The X handle of an anonymous social media user, Barry Stanton (@barrystantonGBP), who went viral for his racist posts and rants in which he criticised Indians and Indian immigrants, was suspended on Friday. The action came after Stanton's posts were flagged by hundreds of irate Indians, with several even calling out X owner Elon Musk for not suspending the account.
The suspension of the account became a subject of intense debate and memes on X. The hashtag "suspended" was among the top trends on X on Friday morning.
Stanton, who has a verified handle with over 1.8 lakh followers, has shared several cartoons and memes depicting Indians defecating in the open. He also praised a post on X on how to drive Indians away from "white neighbourhoods".
Several hateful and abusive posts against Jews and Africans have also been tweeted from the handle. "Why do black people think comedy is just loud people shouting?" one of his posts said.
An X user, Akshit Singh, tweeted that he had flagged the Barry Stanton account to Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw and the UK High Commission in India. He sought an investigation into the activities of the 'Barry Stanton' X account.
"This account has been engaging in the propagation of hate speech and offensive remarks that target individuals based on race and nationality," he said in his complaint.
Another user commented, "Musk has opened the gates of hell. It's been proven, in fact, that the current Twitter algorithm is pushing racist tweets up against Indians."
Barry Stanton's bio on X claims that he is a British national and a father of five. According to a report by a UK website, the pictures on Stanton's account are not his, but of another man, a pensioner from Worcestershire.
Surprisingly, the X handle has been posting hateful content over several years, which has been garnering thousands of retweets and likes.
One of his posts on X that was retweeted over 4,000 times said, "Just picked my lad up from school. He tells me he was forced to read the korma in religion class."
"Barry Stanton does not exist -- or, not in the way Twitter users want to think he does. The account is a parody, created either by a liberal mocking the racists they detest or a real racist spreading their views via humour while hiding behind another person's face," the report said.
