Iraq: Journalist Rasha Al Aqeedi harassed online for her dissident views

October 2, Baghdad —Journalist and chief editor of Irfaa Sawtak news website, Rasha Al-Aqeedi harassed online on Twitter for expressing her dissident views. The Coalition For Women In Journalism supports the journalist against these online trolls and attacks.

The editor-in-charge of IrfaaSawtak, Rasha Al Aqeed, was attacked online for her views and tweets concerning discourse on Iraq. While Rasha resides in the U.S. the tweets all came from Iraqi Twitter accounts.

The accounts attack her personal and professional life and some of them represented direct threats of physical harm and targeting. The journalist blocked most of these accounts.

Online trolling for women journalists for their political views is becoming a widespread phenomenon that needs immediate measures.

CFWIJ has highlighted the grave consequences of online trolling on women journalists and their lives in several campaigns and statements and we noted the severity of the phenomena on several occasions and in our #ThreatsToWIJ global campaign report.  

The Coalition For women in Journalism calls upon social media companies to develop new policies to protect women journalists online and create a safe environment for press freedom.