Thursday, September 3, 2015

Case Study- Social Media- German Professor denying Intern-ship to Indian student


A German university professor's rejection email to an Indian student's application for internship citing the "rape problem in India" as reason went viral on Sunday 8th March, 2015, sparking an online furore. 
  1. The professor's emails were posted anonymously as screenshots on Sunday, 8th March, 2015 on the social website Quora, in a post titled "What should an Indian male student do if he is denied an internship opportunity on the basis of India being projected as an unsafe country for women?" 




By Monday, 9th March 2015, afternoon, German ambassador to India Michael Steiner responded to the fast-brewing controversy, issuing a strongly worded letter to the professor, condemning her action. This letter had received large scale applause on social media space. The copy of the letter as uploaded on website of the embassy is shared here by an account on twitter.


Reactionary tweets:




A subsequent apology from the Leipzig-based biochemistry professor, Dr Annette G. Beck-Sickinger, was then posted on the German embassy's website.

The timely intervention by German Ambassador, on the issue has created lot of positive comments for him in digital media. 

The incident took place in the background of controversial BBC documentary "India's daughter" which created lot of parliament debate and subsequent ban on its broadcast in India. The documentary was based on the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case and had an interview with the convict which created lot of discussion in the Parliament. 





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