Operation ‘Clog the Toilet’: US far-right trolls target Indian H-1B visa holders
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Operation ‘Clog the Toilet’: US far-right trolls target Indian H-1B visa holders")
Screenshot of a thread in 4Chan Photograph: (4Chan/ Independent)
US far-right trolls targeted India-US flight bookings, blocking H-1B visa holders after Trump’s $100,000 visa fee announcement.
US far-right groups launched an organised operation to block Indian's on H1B visas rushing to the US following the announcement by US President Donald Trump of $100,000 fee for the visa. As Indians scrambled to return to the US, far-right trolls launched a campaign of digital harassment. Many Indians reported that, as they were trying to book tickets to return to the US, websites crashed, with timeouts at rapid succession, and an inability to book tickets despite repeated attempts.
What is Operation ‘Clog the Toilet’
US far-right trolls on online platforms like 4Chan and Telegram orchestrated a campaign targeting to disrupt the flight booking systems between the US and India. Trolls targeted the popular flight routes between the two countries, like New Delhi- New York, Mumbai- New York, New Delhi- Chicago, New Delhi- San Francisco, Mumbai- San Francisco, and Bengaluru- San Francisco. After identifying the popular routes, they fill in details and add to the cart without completing the purchase. Thus, temporarily holding or reserving the seat makes it unavailable for other users. Once the hold time was out, they would repeat the process. This was done to spread chaos and drive up the ticket prices further.
“Indians are just waking up after the H1B news…Want to keep them in India? Clog the flight reservation system!” read a post on 4Chan patriots.win thread.
According to the post on the forum, most airlines hold 15 minutes, thus holding the ticket for 15 minutes. “I got 100 seats locked,” boasts one user on the forum.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
What triggered the chaos?
This follows the sudden announcement by the US President Donald Trump of signing an executive order to $100,000 fee on H-1B visas for applicants. This caused panic among the Indians living in the US. However, the US government later clarified that the announcement was for new visa applications. These campaigns of digital harassment were coherent with the rhetoric of MAGA influencers such as Laura Loomer, Steve Bannon. The President himself said that he liked ‘visas’, but it was unfair to the ‘US’ citizen.
The H-1B visa was first announced under the 1990 Immigration Act to attract talent with technical skills that are not available in the US. According to a report by USCIS, the US received 343,981 eligible registrations for the coveted H-1B visa. The attempt to derive profit by selling H-1B visas had not sat well with people like Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who encourage new arrivals of skilled talent.
The campaign is emblematic of xenophobia and racism specifically directed at the diaspora community. This phenomenon is on the rise in the US, especially with the rise of far-right groups and their anti-immigrant rhetoric.
