#bbctrending

A day before her 18th birthday, Toronto student Alexi Halket was pulled into the vice principal's office and told her crop top was inappropriate. Instead of covering up, she decided to wear similar outfit the next day. She did - and more than 5,000 tweeted on #CropTopDay and students across the city wore short shirts in support.

#BBCtrending: Why slightly flabby middle-aged guys are suddenly sexy

Young women are getting into the “Dad Bod” … but some think it’s a recipe for laziness … while others are calling for a celebration of the female equivalent.

Source: #BBCtrending: Why slightly flabby middle-aged guys are suddenly sexy – BBC News

#BBCtrending: Why slightly flabby middle-aged guys are suddenly sex

Young women are getting into the “Dad Bod” – but some think it’s a recipe for…

EXEMPLES DE BONNESPRATIQUES : #BBCTRENDING

Le bureau BBC Trending suit l'évolution desréseaux sociaux et rend compte des sujets qui sont le plus repris sur ces derniers, en appliquant au "storytelling" une démarche véritablement transmédia. BBC Trending publie des sujets consacré aux médias sociaux sur un blog hébergé à la rubrique "Magazine" du site d'information de la BBC, ainsi que sur vidéo et dans une émission de radio hebdomadaire, selon le support le mieux adapté à chaque cas.

#BBCTrending: What happens when Facebook doesn't think your last name is real?

"I had a little bit of paranoia at first … until I realised I wasn't the only Native American this happened to," wrote Dana Lone Hill.

"A few were forced to either smash the two-word last names together or omit one of the two words in the last name."

YouTube comedians in India have defended themselves after authorities said they would launch a probe into whether their humour was "abusive."

What is it okay to say in Indian culture? That question is at the heart of a social media confrontation gripping India. On one side, AIB, a group of young performers who describe themselves as "India's edgiest comedy collective." On the other, conservative Hindu groups who have complained to the Maharashtra State Government.

AIB has around 900,000 YouTube subscribers for its videos which send up various aspects of Indian culture and politics. Their growing following means we have featured them before on this blog - with this alternative take on India's election, for example. Their latest venture was a three-part series called the "AIB Knockout." They brought a roster of top Bollywood stars in front of an audience and "roasted" them - in other words, taunted them with highly personal jokes and insults, including graphic references to the stars' sex lives. It's a format familiar in the West, but it seemed sure to shock in conservative India.

And shock it did. The video not only got 8m views, it attracted complaints for its "vulgar" humour with sexual references, and for being against Indian values. In Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is located, a local Hindu nationalist party called AIB's language "abusive and filthy." The hashtag #AIBNationalShame began to trend, with comments such as "Hilarious !!?? Really ?? Is vulgarity n abusive language necessary for charity ?! Or to show how open we r !!" and "Bollywood showed one thing today that Bollywood will remain a gutter!" The state's Department of Culture said it would investigate the "vulgarity," although the relevant Minister later tweeted that they weren't allowed to do "moral policing" and could only check if the comedians had a licence.

The main film industry union, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees also waded into the dispute, and demanded apologies from the actors that participated in the video.

In light of the complaints, the comedians themselves decided to take drastic action - and took the video down from YouTube. Although they are not granting media interviews, AIB posted a long response online which makes clear that for them, this is a struggle over Indian culture and free speech.

"Over the last few days, we've found ourselves subject to more scrutiny, judgment and opinion than we're worth," they wrote. "This Knockout shouldn't matter. In a secure culture it wouldn't matter."

They make clear that there were age and content warnings on the video. "To everyone who's called us seditious pornographers while plotting the downfall of Indian Values And Civilization As We Know It, we would like to reiterate that we are just a bunch of comedians who work, and have always worked, without any malicious intent whatsoever," they said. However they didn't go into detail about why they took the video down.

On social media, there has been a rally of support for the comedians under the term "We Stand By AIB Knockout." More than 25,000 people have signed an online petition in defence of the group.

"The real issue here is not about some celebs made some jokes & some people got offended. It is about moral policing.. We Stand By AIB Knockout," wrote one tweeter. There has also been a new video in response posted by Indian YouTubers The Viral Fever, which has been trending all day under the hashtag #NoCountryForFunnyMen.

AIB has 900,000 YouTube subscribers

The video was watched 8m times before being removed

Prominent Indian tweeter @GabbbarSingh has been commenting on the issue on his Twitter feed, and he told BBC Trending that the removal of the video was a "pragmatic move."

"When there is a backlash from people who sound like they have a lot of free time and muscle power, it's natural to care about their own security and their loved ones. Had I been in AIB's shoes, I would have probably taken a similar step," he said.

Leading Bollywood actresses Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha and Alia Bhatt came under fire for attending the event. One tweet read "#DeepikaPadukone Could u explain AIB show. It is so sad that role models of millions were participated in it."

Last week we heard the story of Kenyan blogger Abraham Mutai, part of our #FreeSpeechStories series. Mutai was arrested for tweeting about his latest investigation into what he says is government corruption. A campaign to #FreeMutai trended on Twitter and the discussion continued days after his release. Lots of you also got in touch with us directly.

While we were interviewing Mutai for our radio programme (which you can hear here) we received plenty of questions for him via our Twitter page. "Are you a journalist or a paid blogger?" asked Twitter user Mr Keep, who describes himself as a social media analyst.

For the record, Mutai had this to say: "I'm not a trained journalist, but you don't have to be a trained journalist to be a blogger."

Others wanted to know what Mutai's next move would be with questions like: "do you feel safe and able to continue exposing corruption?"

The full interview is really worth a listen - the story starts about 11 minutes into our weekly radio programme.

In keeping with the campaign to #FreeMutai, Twitter users were overwhelmingly supportive of the blogger. We got quite a few emotional tweets from those who were sorry to hear him say he was now living in fear. "This frightens me, as well. My thoughts are with @ItsMutai and other freedom of speech bloggers" said one. "Kenya is sinking lower and lower on free speech. #FreeSpeechStories. I'm disappointed that Mutai is now afraid," said another.

During our coverage of Mutai's case we noticed several tweets criticizing the Kenyan government. Many alluded to controversial new security laws and said they were curbing free speech - although the government says the new laws are necessary to fight terrorism. People also shared their experiences of censorship from other parts of the world including Latin America and Canada.

Blog by Anne-Marie Tomchak

Next story: Why was one death singled out in Egypt?

We want to hear your free speech stories no matter where in the world you are. Have one? Get in touch with us using the hashtag #FreeSpeechStories.

Watch videos on our YouTube channel or follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.

Updated 28 Jan to clarify timeline of deaths over the weekend.

Does the death of Shaimaa al-Sabbagh - whose story has captivated social media - mark a change in Egyptian attitudes towards protesters?

Back in 2011, protestors, who succeeded in toppling the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak, were hailed as heroes.

But in more recent times, derision towards the Muslim Brotherhood has led to support for the government's suppression of street gatherings. So when 18 people were killed in recent clashes on the fourth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, no one expected one protester's story to captivate social media quite as it has.

So why did the death of Shaimaa al-Sabbagh provoke a strong response?

One answer is the sequence of events on 24 January. It all started with this emotional tweet: "I don't know her, I couldn't save her, the girl died and her blood is on my clothes." Egyptian journalist Nancy Attia was in a state after a protester died in front of her.

The dead woman was soon identified as al-Sabbagh and within 12 hours her name had been mentioned more than 130,000 times on Twitter.

On Saturday, 32-year-old al-Sabbagh joined a protest in Cairo organized by the Socialist Popular Alliance party.

Photos show her standing by other members of the party chanting "bread, dignity, freedom" - the same slogan of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Another photo to put on the site of those killed in Tahrir Square in 2011. But al-Sabbagh never made it to Tahrir - she was shot dead on the way to the square.

The Ministry of Interior issued a statement vowing it will bring al-Sabbaghh's killer to justice. But the government opponents are not convinced. They believe that it was the police that targeted her.

Al-Sabbagh was one of the first people to die during the weekend demonstrations. In total at least 17 others were also killed, and dozens were injured. Yet it was her story that dominated social media.

"Shaimaa's death was documented, the images and the footage were very powerful," Egyptian blogger Fatima Said told BBC Trending.

An emotional photo of al-Sabbagh being held by her grieving colleague right after being shot was one of the most shared images with her name.

Videos - some much too graphic to be shown on this blog - showing people rushing to take her to the hospital, with her face covered in blood, were uploaded onto YouTube and viewed by over a million people.

But the spread of news about her death is not just about a female victim whose death was caught on camera.

Fatima Said believes it also has something to do with her not being identified as a Muslim Brotherhood supporter, a group now demonized by a large segment of the population.

"People have become desensitized towards a certain group," Fatima says, "and because Shaimaa was clearly a liberal and a person the West can identify with ideologically, her story got picked up widely by English speakers on twitter and international media."

Just a day before al-Sabbagh's death a 17-year-old student was shot dead during clashes between Muslim Brotherhood protesters and residents in Alexandria. The protester was Sondos Abubakr, but her name did not trend.

"Shocking but not surprising," Said says. "We shouldn't discriminate in our coverage of death."

Blog by Mai Noman

More from BBC Trending - read the story of the Japanese social media fight against Islamic State.

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending.