Her name is Yovana Mendoza, but for her 1.3 million Instagram followers she is known simply as Rawvana, one of the most famous raw vegan influencers in the world. Last month, Rawvana flew to Bali, a destination that had long been on her bucket list because of its reputation as a plant-based paradise. Among the countless number of high definition, envy-arousing photos posted by Rawvana, an Instagram story that should have never seen the light of day was shared on one of Rawvana’s closest friend’s account. The photograph posted on the Instagram story showed the world renowned raw vegan influencer eating fried fish at a local restaurant. Needless to say, the world of raw vegan instagrammers freaked out, threatening the poor young lady under her latest Instagram posts with personal attacks and insults. However, we feel it is important to remark the absurd and incomprehensible behavior of a certain section of the vegan community — the so-called fascist vegans — who constantly react aggressively when anyone tries to challenge their beliefs.

Some of these followers seem to lack the capacity to engage in a civilized and well-reasoned debate; the reactions against Rawvana are just the tip of the iceberg of a movement that too often resorts to verbal abuse instead of argumentation. While such personal attacks and insults are unacceptable, the frustration felt by Rawvana’s raw vegan followers is indeed understandable. They took this 29 year old woman as an inspiration and a role model. She was the emblematic example that, through focus and determination, a healthy lifestyle, free of any meat, fish or animal product was truly achievable. Of course, when they observed their much beloved superheroine eating fried fish, they witnessed their ideals being crushed by their role model.

On top of being fed false information on an “ideal lifestyle,” Rawvana’s followers also had to absorb a 33 minute long Youtube video in which Rawvana explained that she was forced by doctors to stop her raw vegan diet and reintroduce “foods of animal origin” due to severe illness, including intestinal and vaginal infections as well as an irregular menstrual cycle. This is where the greater problem arises. If Rawvana knew that her raw vegan diet was making her sick, why did she keep faking it on social media, putting at risk the health of many followers who decided to follow her steps?

The truth is that it is not easy to give up, from one day to the next, the persona that you have been building for years on your social media account. Especially if that persona not only gave you visibility and likes, but also gave you a job, a salary and the immeasurable power of shaping people’s opinions.

Of course, a case can be made that Rawvana could still have kept her followers, if not augmented their numbers, by being honest and telling the truth before getting caught. However, this would have been a far riskier option, compared to the one of holding onto her loyal fanbase of raw vegan enthusiasts, by continuing to build a fake environment on her social media. Nevertheless, having a social media account with many followers along with other perks is no justification for abandoning the ethical responsibilities that come along with it. Rawvana had the ethical responsibility of informing her followers about her change of diet, since her page was directly promoting and supporting that kind of lifestyle. Now, did she deserve all of the personal attacks and insults she received from making that choice? Definitely not; Rawvana, like any other influencer on social media, has the right and freedom to make any lifestyle change she wants, including the one that made her famous in the first place, as long as she communicates it to her followers.

So, who is to blame in this contemporary social media soap opera? Ultimately, both Rawvana and her followers are both to blame. The former should learn that with great power comes great responsibility, and the latter ought to learn how to turn their frustration into well reasoned arguments, rather than personal attacks and insults.