Ignorance and the liberal media’s agenda take away from the generous acts of a Sikh (not Muslim) taxi driver…
Following the tragic terrorist attack in Manchester, media outlets scrambled to gather information and stories. Some even decided to make up their own. Responding to a Twitter post about a generous Sikh cab driver in Manchester who offered free rides to those in need, a member of Cosmo’s staff—Mylan Torres—asked for permission to share the story. Of course, the user agreed.
However, instead of reporting the facts, Cosmopolitan wrote their own narrative. In a now-deleted Twitter post, Cosmo wrote: “Muslim Taxi Drivers Took Kids Trying to Escape the Manchester Ariana Grande Concert Home for Free.” Attached to the post was the photo of the Sikh taxi driver wearing a turban. It didn’t take long for the Twitter universe to light Cosmo up and call them out on their ignorance. Many users corrected the story and blasted the publication for attempting to push a pro-Muslim agenda at the expense of offending a member of the Sikh faith.
Since I haven’t read Cosmo since I was an 18-year-old looking for lip gloss recommendations, I took a little field trip to their website. Reports of the tragedy in Manchester were intermingled with makeup tips from a 10-year-old boy, how to apply makeup using a fidget spinner, and the latest on the Katy Perry/Taylor Swift feud. Riveting stuff, right? Their Twitter banner features the hashtag #ACTIVISMIRL. What I didn’t see was an apology for the blatantly false story they posted, effectively spreading misinformation to their almost two million followers.
The offensive and deliberate action taken by Cosmo set in motion a chain of social media re-posts and narratives to match their own. The Sikh community is frequently ostracized and mistaken for being Muslim. They’ve had to face attacks, prejudice, and general ignorance. As self-proclaimed activists, Cosmo needs to issue a public apology for their sloppy reporting.
The original post clearly identified the taxi driver as being Sikh—the same post Mylan Torres replied to! Torres deliberately identified the man as being Muslim. This wasn’t an honest mistake. The worst part is that this publication is supposed to be “woke,” yet they can’t differentiate between Sikh and Muslim. The borderline racist post is offensive on many levels. Why couldn’t this just be a human interest story? This man offered a service free of charge in the wake of terror. Instead of recognizing him and his efforts in a dignified fashion, Cosmo created fake news to push their agenda.
Speaking of which, since they claim to be advocates for women’s rights, Mylan Torres needs to woman up and apologize. This disgusting behavior is what perpetuates stereotypes. Cosmopolitan also needs to issue a retraction and own their mistake. Let anyone else publish some nonsense like this and Cosmo would take a break from publishing raunchy sex stories and celebrity gossip to enter full social justice warrior mode. Like one Twitter user pointed out, “The internet never forgets.”
