How Chinmayi Sripaada Started Petition After Getting Rape Threats Online

New Delhi: In her tweet posting the link to her petition against tweets that threaten rape, singer Chinmayi Sripaada wrote two days ago that the "timing can't be more right." Others agreed. In 48 hours, her petition received over 40,000 signatures, Chinmayi revealed yesterday. The count, at the time of writing this, is almost 50,000 and most definitely rising. Those supporting Chinmayi's petition is actor Randeep Hooda, who reposted it from his own Twitter account. As the 32-year-old singer tells it, the petition is the result of threats she personally received online. Addressed to Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, the petition details how Chinmayi Sripaada received tweets like "You need to be raped," "I'll throw acid on your face" and "I'll make sure you never sing again." When she reported these tweets, Twitter told her they would take no action without a police case. Chinmayi's followers helped identify the abusers and three people were arrested.

Chinmayi reveals that it left her "furious." Twitter has been widely criticized for their policies and reluctance to penalize trolls and abusive accounts. "It is the responsibility of Twitter to ensure that their platform is not used for promoting violence against women," Chinmayi writes in her petition, saying that the 'mute' and 'block' functions do not absolve the micro-blogging site of responsibility. "Threats of rape can be objectively tracked and should not be protected as right to speech," the singer writes in the petition.
 

Twitter cannot be a tool to issue rape threats against women. Do sign my https://t.co/2aHUsMss6M petition.

— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 7, 2017

"Some men think rape threats are no big deal. That it's ok to use rape or murder as casual threats," Chinmayi writes. Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur recently withdrew from a protest march after she allegedly received rape threats over a Facebook post against the BJP-linked student outfit ABVP, accused of provoking campus violence.

Chinmayi Sripaada's petition has been received with a certain degree of skepticism from those dismissing social media as an inadequate platform on which to advocate change. To this, she responded:
 

pic.twitter.com/oohgbN7b5W

— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 7, 2017

Chinmayi Sripaada is best-known for her playback work in films like Kannathil Muthamittal.