Rihanna tweets about farmers protests in India — trolls launch her into another ‘Disturbia’

• The global popstar Rihanna took Indians by surprise as she tweeted about the ongoing farmers protest.
• Rihanna’s tweet brought global attention to the farmers' protest, which has been going on for months now against the new farm laws.
• The singer is now facing vicious trolling on Twitter, even from several verified handles on Twitter with people calling her “uninformed”.

On late Tuesday night, Google searches for “Rihanna” spiked up across India, especially in Punjab. Why? Global popstar Rihanna took the country by surprise as she tweeted about the ongoing farmers protest.


The tweet has already been retweeted 209,000 times and got 445,000 likes, overnight. Climate activist Greta Thunberg too tweeted about the protest.

Rihanna’s tweet brought global attention to the protest in India, which has been going on for months now. Farmers have been seeking a rollback of the country’s new farm laws. After a tractor rally took a violent turn on January 26 in the national capital, the government blocked the Internet in Delhi, and deployed heavy security at its borders. It also built concrete walls with cemented nails to prevent protestors from entering the capital.

As expected, many trolls started attacking the popstar and some even questioned Rihanna’s religion. Many of them also Googled to find out if she was a Muslim. She was also viciously trolled on Twitter. Even several verified handles too joined in, calling her “uninformed”.

The most famous of the dissenters include actress Kangana Ranaut to cricketer Pragyan Ojha, and several BJP leaders. Here are a few of the hate tweets.






In spite of all the trolling, Rihanna’s tweet shined global spotlight on India and its handling of the protest. #Farmersprotest started trending in the US after the singer tweeted about it.

An outpouring of support also came in from various leaders, and many Indians thanked the star for lending her voice to the protest.




Meanwhile, India’s parliament has broken out in chaos and disruptions multiple times over the farmers protest.