Harry, 20, sparked the criticism when he posted a picture on Instagram of him posing in a Native American headdress.
Following the post, Twitter account @1DUpdates made it clear they weren’t happy.
Their post read: “Cultural appropriation is not nice, regardless of context or intent. Let’s leave it at that.”
The tweet led to other 1D fans debating whether or not the picture from Harry was ‘racist.’
Directioners accused @1DUpdates of speaking an unnecessarily racism row, to which they replied: “Don’t think Harry is a bad person. I think there’s underlining inequality all around the world in current times.
“I know that even I perpetuate it myself. That’s why it’s even more important to recognise our mistakes and to act on them.”
Some of the fans jumped to Harry’s defence, insisting that he wasn’t being racist but that he was simply trying the headdress on.
@1Dupdates replied: “I don’t think he was trying being hurtful or offensive. I’m just trying to point out the bugger issue, because people are trying to downplay it to protect him.
“I love Harry and I’m sure he’s not ‘racist’ but we shouldn’t turn a blind eye.”