What is the meaning of "backslash"

I have seen several people use the word backslash, it sounds like something similar to disaster, bad result, etc. But I am not quite sure what it means and when I should use it.

Examples:

• But if big layoffs result at home, corporations and the US government will face a backslash.
• Celeb Boutique saw a major backslash as result after the inappropriate usage of the word Aurora.

It's not slang, and the word you want is almost certainly backlash:

a strong negative reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development: a public backlash against racism

By contrast, Oxford Dictionaries define a backslash as

a backward-sloping diagonal line (\), used in some computer commands.

(In MS Windows Character Map utility, this character is described as a Reverse Solidus.)