To absolutely nobody’s benefit, Indonesian netizens have been review bombing the Google listing of Aare river in Bern, Switzerland, where the eldest son of West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil was last seen.
Emmeril Khan Mumtadz, AKA Eril, is in Switzerland to pursue a postgraduate degree. He went missing after swimming in the river with his sister and their friends on the afternoon of May 26. According to Ridwan, Eril was carried away by a sudden surge in river current. The search for Eril continues to this day.
Soon after news about Eril broke back home, Indonesian netizens came in swarmed Aare river’s Google listing, leaving negative comments and one-star ratings, as if the waterway was fully to blame for the tragedy. The review bombs reportedly brought the location’s rating down to 3.7, with local outlets noting that there were 3,095 reviews for the river as of yesterday.
“Not recommended ya guys, because [the river] has harmed an Indonesian,” one reviewer said.
“The Aare river is very dangerous for swimming. The Swiss government should make safety protocols for tourists!” another comment reads.
Amid the negative reviews, there were also Indonesians who left five-star reviews to counter the negativity.
“Those who left insensitive reviews, you brought shame to Indonesia,” one reviewer wrote.
“Actually, I’m embarrassed to give a review because I’m not a visitor, oopsie. But I help increase it again due to the actions of Indonesian netizens who left bad ratings when they shouldn’t, because they have never visited the river anyway. Even though I’ve only seen it on YouTube it’s clear that the river is nice, clean. Is there any river in Indonesia that’s as beautiful as [the Aare river]?” another review reads.
Google looks to have removed most of the recent negative comments from Indonesia. At the time of this article’s publication, Aare river’s Google listing has 475 reviews averaged to a 4.7 star rating.
Despite the removal of irrelevant reviews, there are still some negative and insensitive comments left on the listing, including from one Indonesian who suspects that the river is inhabited by a “jinn (malicious demon) who asked for a human sacrifice.”
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