New York: An online campaigning in the US has targeted Indian tech workers vacationing back home by overloading airline booking systems to ‘keep Indians in India’.
Far-right groups on forums like 4chan are reportedly coordinating a campaign 'Clog The Toilet' to block flights, according to NDTV.
4chan, an anonymous online message board founded in 2003, has been linked to internet memes, trolling campaigns, and extremist content.
The campaign against people of South Asian origin came after President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas on September 21.
In one instance Austin-based software engineer Amrutha Tamanam, who was vacationing in India, faced difficulty in booking a one-way ticket to Dallas on Qatar Airways, before eventually booking the ticket for around $2,000 paying more than double the original round-trip fare.
New agency AFP quoted Tamanam as saying: ‘It was hard for me to book a ticket and I paid a huge fare for the panic travel.’
Trolls on forums like 4chan claimed that they were able to hold over 100 seats to ‘wreck Jeets’ a derogatory term for people of South Asian origin.
After Trump hiked fee, many Indian tech workers visiting India began rushing to the US to avoid the new fee.
The campaigners temporarily hold seats on popular India-US flights and start the checkout process without paying, making seats unavailable for real passengers.
With the hold expiring they would do it again to keep flights blocked, thus driving up ticket prices.
The plan, targeting flights to cities like New York, Newark, and Dallas, was discussed on 4chan, Telegram, and other forums.
Meanwhile, post containing racist slurs alongside instructions to cause travel difficulties to Indians are passed around online.
However, it is reported quoting an Air India spokesperson that Air India website experienced no disruptions.
Pointing to the nature of the campaign, one 4chan post said: ‘Indians are just waking up after the H1B news. Want to keep them in India? Clog the flight reservation system.’
Another comment reported read: ‘Currently clogging the last available seat on this Delhi to Newark flight.’
Amid panic, the White House made it clear that the $100,000 fee applied only to new H-1B petitions with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying: ‘Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter.’