AIB meme row: Tharoor, Derek O'Brien post dog-filter pics, Twitter on fire

Defending the meme on AIB website and on Twitter, Tanmay Bhat termed it lack of rational reasoning

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien and actor-turned-politician Ramya tweeted a selfie using the Snapchat dog filter. This comes amid the social media rumpus going on over AIB posting a meme on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 

The Mumbai Police Cyber Cell on Friday registered a complaint against comedian Tanmay Bhat-promoted All India Bakchod (AIB) for posting a meme on Modi. AIB posted an image of Modi's lookalike at a railway station along with a photo of the PM with a Snapchat dog filter, captioned #wanderlust on Twitter. There was instant outrage on this. As a result, AIB deleted its post after being ‘roasted’ on Twitter. 

The dog filter is a special effect application which allows users to add a dog’s nose, ears and tongue over their faces while taking a selfie or on other photographs.
 

A Twitter user, Reetesh Maheshwari, wrote to the Mumbai police handle, calling the meme an obnoxious prank and asked for a legal action against this. Following a pandemonium on the social media and other circles, AIB deleted the meme.
 

Also read: Mumbai cops register FIR against AIB for insulting PM Modi in tweet

Undeterred by critics, Tanmay Bhat vowed he would continue to make jokes repeatedly.
 

"Will continue making jokes. And deleting if necessary. And making jokes again. And apologising if necessary. Don't care what you think," he tweeted.
 

Defending the meme on the AIB website and on Twitter, Bhat termed it lack of rational reasoning.

PS: Will continue making jokes. And deleting if necessary. And making jokes again. And Apologizing if necessary. Don't care what you think.

— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) July 13, 2017

Congress leaders and BJP trolls both getting mad over a goddamn silly snapchat filter meme smh

— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) July 13, 2017

You actually hold some responsibility. Waking up in the morning and trying to shame some comedians for deleting a meme. Ispe utar gaye ho.

— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) July 13, 2017

Shashi Tharoor was apparently nudged by the Twitterati to defend the AIB's freedom of expression, after which the Thiruvananthapuram MP took the controversy to another level and tweeted, “Attn all trolls: I took the #DogFilter challenge! @AllIndiaBakchod”. He even posted a picture of himself along with the dog-filter on Twitter.
 

Attn all trolls: I took the #DogFilter challenge! @AllIndiaBakchod pic.twitter.com/0lmClCS7CF

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 15, 2017

Derek O'Brien also took to Instagram to post his picture and captioned it: "It's the weekend. Time for a little bit of fun."

This was in reply to a Twitter user who had asked O'Brien and Tharoor to be a "sport" and don the "dog-face".
 

 

It's the weekend. Time for a little bit of fun 

A post shared by Derek O'Brien (@quizderek) on Jul 14, 2017 at 9:44pm PDT

While a section applauded the move and responded by uploading their pictures with the filter in solidarity, many pointed out that uploading your own photo is not the same as uploading that of someone else’s without their permission.

Tharoor’s post clutched a lot of eyeballs. Here are some reactions to his tweet:

But I love the #DogFilter. It makes everyone look better!  pic.twitter.com/BJHVdy20hz

— Prateeka (@PrateekaKamath) July 15, 2017

While u get arrested for the #DogFilter .. If have the #CowFilter u are safe!!!! pic.twitter.com/UL3FuHNg3w

— Tehseen Poonawalla (@tehseenp) July 15, 2017

Well hello there#dogfilter pic.twitter.com/UgikSx5BED

— Jasmine Ruth Baluja (@Jazz1008) July 15, 2017

If it's offensive, then this is mandatory.#DogFilter pic.twitter.com/BabgdKhB1O

— Esha Mittal (@esha24mittal) July 15, 2017

O' my my! Dog filter is now offensive, sigh! #dogfilter @AllIndiaBakchod pic.twitter.com/oldGZdeZO6

— Preeti Singh (@Singhpreeti_17) July 15, 2017

You are looking cute sir 
Dog is my favorite pet animal 

— Meena (@meenabg) July 15, 2017

Pls try cow filter too! That would be more hilarious. 

— Keerthi (@realkeerthi) July 15, 2017

Celebrities like Vishal Dadlani, Vir Das and others also raised their voice. Here are the tweets:

Rape? No action. Murder? No action. Cow-terrorism? No action. Snapchat!??? Immediate FIR!

Gotta love India's kanoon-vyavastha. https://t.co/Htw0A4Dbxg

— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) July 14, 2017

Sigh! I promise you Modi will not be upset by an internet meme. He's busy. He's Prime minister of India, not president of America.

— Vir Das (@thevirdas) July 14, 2017

FIR for using snapchat dog filter on PM.
FIR for using snapchat dog filter.
FIR for using snapchat.
FIR for using.
FIR.

— Aisi Taisi Democracy (@AisiTaisiDemo) July 14, 2017

pic.twitter.com/yMAP94Ncxl

— Sense of tumor (@dashhtweets) July 14, 2017

Nobody gave a shit when someone put a Snapchat filter on the CM of Delhi. pic.twitter.com/pvBASZjOOU

— Sand-d Singh (@Sand_In_Deed) July 13, 2017