Food delivery major Zomato has earned the ire of social media users after it indulged actor Swara Bhasker's demand to stop advertising on Republic Bharat.
In a tweet on Wednesday (18 November), Bhasker claimed to be a regular customer of Zomato while stating that she is not comfortable with her money "even indirectly funding this kind of communal bigoted hate".
Bhasker posted this tweet while quoting a Twitter handle named "defund the hate" which shared a clip from Republic Bharat's debate on Love Jihad - while terming it as "hate speech".
In response to the aforementioned tweets, Zomato posted that it is looking into the matter, "Hi Swara, please note, we don’t endorse any content except our own. That being said, we are looking into this."
This indulgence towards Bhasker's demand led to intense anger among many social media users who warned Zomato against taking any action.
Many also shared that they have uninstalled the Zomato app or cancelled its Gold Subscription.
Zomato is no stranger to controversy and last year it was panned on social media for its “Food has no religion” campaign.
Many argued that while Zomato on one hand was promoting the “secular” nature of food, it on the other hand was going the extra mile to assist customers who were wrongly delivered non-Halal dishes. People also questioned why unlike Halal, Zomato does not provide any Jhatka certification on its platform.
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.