The Snapchat Controversy: A Reflection on Indian Reactions
The post explores the controversy surrounding an alleged statement by the Snapchat CEO about India and the ensuing backlash.
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12/24/20244 min read


The Snapchat Controversy: A Reflection on Indian Reactions
On this day, the CEO of Snapchat allegedly said that "India is a poor country" and Snapchat is only made for rich people. Due to this, he doesn't want to expand his business in India. After listening to this, Indians were so enraged that they verbally abused him on Twitter, verbally abused his girlfriend on Instagram, and gave 1-star ratings to Snapchat on Google Playstore and AppStore. This whole controversy is not a serious issue, but how Indians have reacted to this is a serious issue.
Indian Sensibilities and the Response
That's why I'm making a blog on this issue. Through this video, I want to tell everybody that whatever happened due to this controversy exhibits Indians' mentality, how they think, and their views. Most Indians are extremely intolerant; they get offended easily, they are childish, and very emotionally gullible. That is, they believe whatever they hear and start taking action upon it. First of all, everybody should have confirmed whether it is true news or a hoax. Because Indian media has become expert these days in circulating fake news, especially "India Today."
So after confirming, we come to know that it is fake news. Nothing has been said like this. Snapchat has officially denied this statement. But, let's assume he said something like this. Did he say anything wrong? "India is a poor country." 180 million citizens in the country, that is, 18 crore Indians, are Below Poverty Line. They don't even get 120 Rupees per day. Isn't this poor? India is the second most unequal country in the world. Do you understand the meaning of unequal? The divide which is maximum between the rich and the poor.
Economic Realities and National Sentiments
Russia is the only country which has more divide between rich and poor than India. Otherwise, India is the 2nd most unequal country in the world. The top 1% of citizens of India control 60% of the wealth. 60% of wealth is under their control. As time passed, this inequality only increased. You can see in this graph how it has increased. So, whatever he said, was it wrong? The first step towards the solution of any problem is that you should admit that there exists a problem.
If you don't admit that there is a problem, how are you going to solve it? If you don't admit that poverty exists, how are you going to put an end to poverty? Let's assume that India was not a poor country. And he gave that statement, was it valid to comment on this? If your answer is yes, then you are very intolerant and you get offended easily. Exactly what Amir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan said, "India is a very intolerant country" and "People are easily emotionally provoked under the influence of folks."
They said it right, and this incident completely exposes that statement. I don't have any benefit in calling you "Intolerant". Let me show you how your emotionally manipulative behavior is exploited by politicians, media, and companies. There are lots of examples, but first of all, let's have a look at Flipkart. Flipkart disguises itself as an Indian company because its main competition is Amazon, a multinational company. So, to gain an advantage, they disguise themselves as an Indian company.
So that the nationalist citizens of India prefer Flipkart over Amazon. But the fact is, the majority of shareholders and investors of Flipkart are foreigners, and the company's office is Singapore-based. The complete registry of the company is done in Singapore. So, Flipkart is not an Indian company. Not even Snapdeal. The best example of this is the fraudulent company, Freedom251, which was making the world's cheapest smartphone. They brought smartphones from China, printed an Indian flag on them, and sold them to you under the name of "Make In India".
And many people bought it under the name of nationalism and everyone was fooled. The same goes for Whatsapp forwards, people blindly forward the messages they receive if they are loaded with "Jai Hind(s)" and some "Indian flags". People start forwarding it and blindly believe it. The same goes for political parties too. BJP leads in this race. All the anti-nationals are found in BJP. That ISI agent was found in none other than BJP. Still, the BJP is the most nationalist party. Why? Because they know how to play with your feelings of nationalism.
They take the credits whenever India achieves success. For example, the Indian army executed surgical strikes and they took the credits themselves. Posters were stuck everywhere as if they had executed the surgical strike. They make someone a villain or anti-national randomly so that they can look nationalist. They start calling every second person an anti-nationalist. They play this game of "Anti-national" on Twitter so that they look nationalist and you vote for them based on nationalism.
There are upcoming MCD elections in Delhi. BJP has been ruling for the past 10 years. Roads stink and garbage is loitered everywhere. In these 10 years, BJP has ZERO achievements. So now think, how would they campaign and market themselves? They campaign based on feelings of nationalism. They say, "If you vote for us, you're a patriot; if you don't vote for us, you're a traitor." There is no manifesto, no promise, nothing. Just, if you vote for us, you're a patriot; if you don't, you're a traitor. So, are you getting that? Your feeling of nationalism is up for sale.
And these blind followers (a.k.a. Andh-Bhakts) are very stupid. The topic was to boycott Snapchat and they boycotted SnapDeal. They weren't able to distinguish between Snapchat and Snapdeal. What is the use of their education? Why do they call themselves literate? Before jumping into an argument, they don't even know what the argument is about. Then, I'm not surprised to see how politicians and companies are able to exploit their feeling of nationalism. Have a look at their tweets. After watching this complete video, I can guarantee that a few among you will say,
"Brother, do whatever you want to do, we will boycott Snapchat, it has hurt our nationalist sentiments." I would like to say, "Boycott Snapchat if your nationalist sentiments are so weak". But just one thing then, boycott this man too! Because he also said the same thing that "India is a poor country". He also said the same thing Evan Spiegel said. So boycott both of them, don't keep double standards. I hope you found this video helpful. I would just like to say that don't be so emotionally sensitive.
Don't be so intolerant; otherwise, these people will rise at your expense and they will exploit your feelings. See you soon in the next blog. Thank You :)