Undermining Women—The Bulli Bai App

Recently, there has been a lot noise around the Bulli Bai app controversy that has made up the headlines of all the major news channels. The controversy erupted when there were reports from multiple Muslim women that their photographs had been stolen from social media and uploaded on an app called “Bulli Bai.” The app was technically prepared to auction Muslim women and it enabled the users to “bid” for them.

Notably, this app was created by the assistance of GitHub, which is the world’s largest open-source software repository system. This is not the first time that the operation of an app of such nature has come to light; in June 2021, an app of a similar nature was in operation, named as “Sulli Deals.” The malicious Bulli Bai app stole the pictures of famous Muslim women and then also posted them online without taking their permission, which included the names of prominent journalists as well as others. A pertinent question that arises out of this issue is about the status of the liability of GitHub in the whole controversy. It should be understood that GitHub has already removed the app from its platform after taking note of the controversy, and in such a case, according to the intermediary rules, GitHub would not be liable to any degree as it has already taken the necessary step.