On Wednesday, a twitter user posted the news of Soul Bitches, an all-women group, being shut down, which has now received almost 100,000 views, and triggered a myriad of reactions by members of the group and other women.
Soul Bitches has been deleted by @facebook. Those of you affected, I'm really, really sorry. Censorship of women is very real today. #SoulBitches
— Zeina Toric-Azad (@zeinatoricazad) August 2, 2023
A fellow user responded with: “that is all sorts of wrong. I am so so sorry to hear this. It was quite literally the one women's group I genuinely liked”.
that is all sorts of wrong. I am so so sorry to hear this. It was quite literally the one women's group I genuinely liked
— Hareem Sumbul (@HareemSumbul) August 2, 2023
Another user said “This is really messed up! Myself along with many women I know are active users.”
This is really messed up! Myself along with many women I know are active users.
— Dosti (@bikesandbells) August 2, 2023
There were also underlying tones of wanting to recreate the group on Twitter, through its community function: “Can the same group be made here? Twitter has a new function called Community”, a user said.
Can the same group be made here? Twitter has a new function called Community.
— Kabutarr ja ja ja (@queserasarasara) August 2, 2023
The all-women Facebook group called Soul Bitches was created in 2016 by Rabeeya Latif as she felt the absence of a safe online judgement-free space for women in Pakistan where they had the freedom to discuss anything without getting censored or facing criticism from the general public. In the seven years since its inception, Soul Bitches had garnered a community of women from around the world, amounting to over 32,000 individuals.
The day after the group was deleted, Rabeeya released an official announcement on the Soul Bitches instagram, in which the opening statement read “We regret to inform you that Facebook has unexpectedly deleted or disabled our beloved Soul Bitches page.” However, the post also assured members of the community that all efforts would be made to restore the safe space where women could “connect, empower and uplift one another”.
While most of the upheaval caused by the deletion of this Facebook group was in favour of restoring it, many reactions seemed to be expressing happiness. Rabeeya once again took to her instagram story to respond to the latter. She explained the origins of the group and how it has “not only rallied for womens causes but extended its compassion to animals as well”. She further added that “when gratitude is expressed for the removal of this group, please understand that you’re celebrating the dissolution of a space that was painstakingly created.”
The reason behind the group's deletion and the future of the group itself, both remain uncertain.
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