Fans Call Out Islamophobic Song Targeting Zayn Malik

If you recently spotted the hashtag ‘#removeitforzayn’ trending on Twitter, you aren’t the only one. Zayn Malik’s fans have taken to social media to protect the star, standing against any Islamophobic sentiments targeted at Malik.

Islamophobia Against Zayn

The fiasco began when a user uploaded a song on Spotify titled ‘Zayn Did 9/11’ and accused the singer of having ties to the devastating 9/11 terror attacks. 

This isn’t the first time that the song took over social media, much to fans’ dismay. Following its resurfacing, Zayn Malik’s fans stormed Twitter with demands that the song be permanently removed. They further pushed for a long term solution, considering this is the second time this has happened.

What is ‘Zayn Did 9/11’ ?

The objectionable minute-long track, uploaded by a one ‘Uma Kompton’ in 2017, has remained on the streaming platform since.

In the song, the former One Direction singer is unreasonably connected to the 2001 terrorist attacks. However, as the content of the song does not fall under Spotify’s hate speech guidelines, it remained accessible.

Continued verbal assault and the spread of false information arising from malicious intent has left fans outraged. And while the problem arises from loopholes in streaming services’ policies, fans of Zayn have joined hands on Twitter, showing their mass support for the star.

Action for Zayn

Unsurprisingly, Uma Kompton’s Twitter account was suspended in 2016 after a series of controversial posts from her account. The Twitter user was an outspoken troll who posted abusive and racist content.

While Spotify was quick to take notice of the matter, at the time of reporting, Apple and other streaming services have not issued any comment on the matter.

The song has prompted fans to say things like, “his faith affiliation, skin color, or race does not equal terrorism. If you let a minority of any racial/religious group dictate your view of the majority of said group, then you need to re-evaluate your worldview!”

While bigots and haters continue to exist, one thing is for certain: there’s nothing like a fan to take care of you.

By: Ahalya Narayanan