Thousands of people in Indonesia have deleted a local ride sharing app from their smartphones in protest because one of its executives appeared to support the LGBTI community.
GoJek is a popular Indonesian ride sharing app and a photo shared on Facebook has gone viral after it showed the executive’s support of LGBTI people.
‘I’m happy to say that Gojek is taking the diversity & inclusion matter to the next level by the adoption of a non-discrimination policy toward the underrepresented group, i.e. LGBT, despite being an Indonesian company,’ the post read.
The post was written by the company’s vice president of operations and business development Brata Santoso to celebrate National Coming Day.
But the post went viral with many vowing to delete the app and never support the company again. While homosexuality is legal in Indonesia, a growing crackdown on the community has fuelled violence and discrimination against LGBTI people.
Oh, the irony
The #UninstallGojek stayed trending on Twitter since Saturday, with many people sharing screenshots of them deleting the app.
Done #uninstallgojek pic.twitter.com/hqp9WUCP3r
— abdullah nabil bsa (@nizarsalimbsa) October 13, 2018
But social media users pointed out the hypocrisy of deleting GoJek while using companies who actively support the LGBTI community.
‘If you #UninstallGojek because they support LGBTQ+. I want to remind you that Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google are support LGBTQ+,’ wrote one Twitter user.
‘So, throw your fucking smartphone, and buy this phone. Thank you :).’
If you #UninstallGojek because they support LGBTQ+. I want to remind you that Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google are support LGBTQ+
So, throw your fucking smartphone, and buy this phone. Thank you 🙂 pic.twitter.com/8s3Fxgrdxl
— Bagus Prasthawa (@RastaPrast) October 15, 2018
‘So you guys are gonna uninstall Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and definitely stop using Google products too while you’re at it, right? Cos they all support diversity and freedom of expression in case you homophobic bigots missed the memo. 🌈✌🏻’ another Twitter user wrote.
GoJek has not responded publicly to the furore but appears to have deleted the original Facebook post.