Miss World TT goes to Cybercrime Unit

The Miss World TT organisation is going to the police Cybercrime Unit to find out who is cyberbullying one of its contestants.

Over the weekend, a screenshot of a racist tweet attributed to Miss Marabella candidate Manisha Moonilal circulated online.

The screenshot read: “With everything going on, n---as should know better than to act like animals. The government won’t treat you right if you don’t act right.”

It appeared to be a reference to the protests taking place mainly in the US in reaction to last week’s police killing of Geprge Floyd.

On Sunday night, Miss World TT released a statement on its Facebook page saying: “The comments are horrendous and appalling and we take these matters very seriously. If any candidate behaves in a manner not in keeping with a miss World TT candidate, their contract would be immediately terminated.”

The organisers then found Moonilal had not made the comments, and posted:

“The photos of the screenshots which have been circulating appear to have been photoshopped to make it seem as if these comments were made by the candidate. This is a form of cyberbullying against her.”

Newsday spoke to Brian Gopaul, managing director of Miss World TT, who said there are quite a few fake profiles of different candidates and he’s appealing to the public to think carefully before sharing content that could malign a candidate’s character.

“We are going to the Cybercrime Unit in a more formal manner. Whoever is behind it, we will try and hope that the police service will look into it in a comprehensive manner. This is cyberbullying.”

Gopaul wished people would “act responsibly” and not share information online if they are not certain if it is legitimate.

He said Miss World had instructed all candidates to stop using their private profiles, as they are now public figures, and soon their public social media profiles will be released.

Gopaul said the fake tweet goes against Moonilal’s character, and he stands by his candidate. “Any girl going forward, two days before the competition, to put out that content, would absolutely know there is no chance of them going forward. So I don’t think any girl in their right mind would even engage in that.”