Barry Stanton X account suspended after series of racist posts against Indians

The Barry Stanton X account has been suspended after posting a series of deeply racist posts against Indians. Among other things, the account shared several racist cartoons depicting Indians defecating in the open and lauded a post on how to drive Indians away from ‘White’ neighbourhoods in the west. The account also criticised Indians as “smelly” and other slurs too distasteful to reproduce here.

Barry Stanton, a fake name used by an anonymous troll, utilised the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share racist posts against Indians. Stanton used his verified X profile with 1.8 lakh followers to spew hate against Indians.

The suspension comes after several complaints against the account since the vile posts started appearing around two weeks ago.

Barry Stanton X account suspended

Some Indians who had earlier reported his racist posts on X received emails from the social media company saying its content did not violate X rules. This despite the fact that X rules clearly state that its users “may not attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin” etc.

X owner Elon Musk had also been facing increasing pressure from Indians to suspend the account for violating community guidelines.

As of a few hours ago, the account stands suspended for violating X rules. People who now try to access the “barrystantonGBP” handle on X are met with a “Account Suspended” notice.

Who was Barry Stanton?

Barry Stanton’s X bio claims he is a British national and a father of five. However, Barry Stanton appears to be a fake name being used by an anonymous troll.

A 2017 report by British news website The New Statesman had revealed that the pictures on Barry Stanton’s account were stolen from another man, a pensioner from Worcestershire.

“Barry Stanton does not exist – or, not in the way Twitter users want to think he does. The account is a parody, created either by a liberal mocking the racists they detest or a real racist spreading their views via humour while hiding behind another person’s face,” The New Statesman report suggested.