[TheWeek] ‘Not anti-Semitic’: How Australian Hindu, Jewish groups worked to make Uber reverse woman’s account ban

The article from The Week discusses an incident involving a Fiji-born Hindu woman named **Swastika Chandra** who resides in Sydney, Australia. She was blacklisted and denied services by the Uber app in Australia for about five months because her first name was ruled “offensive” due to its connection to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party.

However, Swastika Chandra was not willing to change her name as she was confident that the name predated the Nazis and was common among the Hindu community. She argued that if the Australian government had no issues with providing her citizenship certificate, health care card, and driving license under the name, why should Uber be offended.

As a result, her account was suspended by the ride-share and food-delivery service. Five months later, the account suspension was lifted. Among the parties that fought for the woman’s cause were Australia’s The Hindu Council, the local Jewish community, and the NSW attorney-general.

Understanding the mistake, Uber apologized and allowed Swastika to rejoin the platform. They stated, “We understand that there are different cultural nuances to names, and therefore our teams address incidents like this on a case-by-case basis to ensure we evaluate each account fairly. In this case, after reviewing Ms Chandra’s request, we reinstated her access to the app.” Swastika reportedly said, “A bit of education, I think, is needed. I’m very proud of my name. I believe in the good that comes with it and I’m not changing it for anyone.”

Source: Conversation with Bing
‘Not anti-Semitic’: How Australian Hindu, Jewish groups worked to make ….
https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2024/04/21/trending-news-not-anti-semitic-how-australian-hindu-jewish-groups-worked-to-make-uber-reverse-woman-s-account-ban.html