Uber Banned a Woman Called Swastika Due to Her Name, Later Apologized

• Swastika Chandra had her Uber account banned because of her name.
• Uber eventually apologized to the Australian woman and reinstated her account.
• Chandra said she was proud of her Hindu identity and her name and would not change it for anyone.

An Australian woman was banned from using Uber after the company deemed her first name offensive.

Swastika Chandra tried to order food from Uber Eats last year, but when she typed in her name, a pop-up told her it violated the company’s terms and that she would change it, she told A Current Affair.

Uber’s guidelines limit names containing potentially offensive words.

The swastika comes from a Sanskrit word meaning good fortune or well-being. It is a symbol that was relevant to many religions in Asia, such as Jainism and Buddhism, long before it was co-opted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and became associated with anti-Semitism.

“They don’t know that Hindus used it for thousands of years before Hitler used it in the wrong way,” Chandra said. Her name was common in Fiji, where she grew up and which has a large Indian population.

“I’m very proud of my name. I believe in the good that comes with it and I wouldn’t change it for anyone,” she told ACA.

Five months later, Uber reinstated his account and apologized to Chandra. However, it took interventions from the Hindu Council of Australia and the Attorney General of New South Wales, according to the ACA.

“We apologize to Ms. Chandra for the inconvenience caused, and we appreciate her patience while we reviewed the matter, which took longer than we hoped,” Uber told the program.

Uber is no stranger to these types of moderation issues. In 2021, it disabled a number of transgender driver accounts due to what it considered to be fraudulent profile photos taken after the drivers transitioned.

The company also faced backlash last year after the owner of a Palestinian restaurant in Toronto said Uber Eats suddenly labeled his restaurant as Israeli. Uber Eats previously told Business Insider that the “unintentional” issue had been resolved.