One hashtag took over Twitter worldwide today, 2nd February 2021 and for reasons that no one would have expected. While #RespectLisa has trended worldwide numerous times and every one of those times, it was due to mistreatment of the artist, lack of attention, unreasonable hate sent her way and more. However, this time, things have taken an ugly turn. Lisa is being subjected to discrimination and racism because of her Thai background. Alongside the hashtag "Respect Lisa", two other tags, #SAYNOTORACISM and #STOPRACISM are also trending worldwide to address this issue.
Leaked messages from a group chat revealed immensely hateful, mean and racist comments towards BLACKPINK's Lisa, discrediting her hard work and relegating her success to underhanded means. However, this went beyond hate towards Lisa and further towards dehumanising Thai people and Thailand in general. Not only is this behaviour problematic and defamatory on a personal sense but also on a much larger scale which exposes the extent to which some K-Pop stans can go to spread hate and malice towards individuals who have done nothing but worked hard for what they have achieved. Seeing as this is not the first time Lisa has faced such heartbreaking comments, it is high time that entertainment companies in the K-Pop industry step up to protect their artists and punish malicious commenters in the harshest way possible.
