A social media trend with the hashtag ‘What’s wrong with India’ has been making rounds on X (formerly Twitter). On Wednesday it gained traction with over 2.5 lakh posts with even the government’s citizen engagement portal, MyGovIndia, hopping in on the viral trend.
The ‘What’s wrong with India’ hashtag was recently used by netizens abroad after an incident that unfolded nearly a few weeks ago when a Spanish tourist was gang-raped by several men in Dumka, Jharkhand.
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The incident sparked widespread outrage globally, with numerous users sharing negative travel experiences in India. Some accounts even went to the extent of tarnishing India’s image, alleging that such incidents were a daily affair in the country. Over the week, several users ridiculed India for being the “rape capital of the world”. They also pointed out issues with hygiene and culture. These posts were shared with the phrase ‘what’s wrong with India’.
It was claimed that these posts were getting unusual traction that reportedly had an anti-India agenda. Several users pointed out and criticised X for such a trend, alleging a “biased algorithm” that appears to favour videos portraying India and Indians negatively.
To counter this agenda, netizens in India hopped on the trend. Indian users shared pictures and videos of similar incidents which took place in other countries with the caption ‘What’s wrong with India’. The objective was to prove that X’s algorithm was promoting such posts that had the phrase ‘what’s wrong with India’ and shared anti-India content. Some posts shared by Indians gained over one lakh impressions.
Even the official handle of the Government of India’s citizen engagement platform, @MyGovIndia, participated but with a spin to it.
The official handle of the government of India on X countered by sharing images of four news reports showcasing India’s achievements in the past two years.
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The clippings mentioned how India “wiped out extreme poverty,” became the first country to successfully land on the moon’s South Pole, was praised by the IMF chief for being the fastest-growing economy, and other countries emulating India’s advancements in digital infrastructure.
The government’s reaction to the trend aimed to showcase India in a positive light, countering posts that addressed concerns such as women’s safety, crime, food hygiene, and corruption in the nation.
Many users on platform X rallied behind the government, sharing images and videos of similar incidents from other countries with the same phrase.
Below are examples of sarcastic posts shared by X users under the ‘What’s wrong with India’ hashtag: