March 1, 2021- Dr Shahbaz Gill is a government spokesperson who frequently intimidates journalists online. He discriminates against women journalists and berates their work. Recently he shared the address of a female politician Palwasha Khan on Twitter. After that Palwasha’s house was attacked and she received threats. When the journalist, Benazir Shah pointed out the spokesperson for his mistake, he started intimidating her. He went on to bully her as a liar and enemy to him. Mr. Shahbaz Gill routinely attacks journalists and thus starts a trend of online trolling against them. CFWIJ condemns this intimidation and bullying of female journalists from a government official. We urge the Government authorities to step in and hold Mr. Shahbaz accountable for his misconduct. 

Mr. Shahbaz Gill shared the address of a female politician, Palwasha Khan on his Twitter account. Palwasha Khan's house was attacked by goons and she faced threats ahead of senate elections she is contesting. A journalist, Benazir Shah pointed out Mr. Gill for his reckless mistake, and instead of apologizing Mr. Gill bullied the journalist calling her a liar and an enemy to him.

“We document violations against women journalists around the world. Out of 92 countries, where we have monitored threats, Pakistan consistently remains among one of the top countries. It is especially troubling when these threats come from government-leaning accounts or worse, a government spokesperson,” said CFWIJ founding director Kiran Nazish. “Prime Minister Imran Khan, and his cabinet need to take immediate and thorough steps to stop these violations.”

The Coalition For Women In Journalism spoke to Benazir Shah and she said. “This validates the August 12 public statement by women journalists, about how senior government officials run social media campaigns to harass and intimidate us. The goal is to stop female reporters from reporting. It has been seven months since our statement was released and the government has yet to take any steps to protect us. Instead online attacks on the first few signatories of the statement have only increased since August. Some senior government officials specifically target women journalists online, while they are more careful with the kind of language they use in response to male journalists. Primarily because women are seen as a fair game.”

Benazir is not alone who suffered the wrath of Mr. Gill. He also attacked broadcast journalist Reema Omer on February 25. Mr. Gill quoted a tweet of her and implied that Reema doesn't criticize the opposition party enough. On February 19, he insinuated in a tweet that core Pakistan members of CFWIJ and broadcast journalist Gharidah Farooqi was hired as a translator by the opposition party. Gharidah had tweeted about the results of a recent by-election.

Mr. Gill also attacked core Pakistan members of CFWIJ and prominent journalist Asma Shirazi but then deleted his tweet. CFWIJ reached out to Asma for a comment on this recent intimidation towards journalists from a government spokesperson. Asma said, “ It is very unfortunate how frequently Mr. Gill comes after journalists. He exhibits discrimination against women journalists and it's very concerning since he has powers and resources as a government official. Asma also criticized Mr. Gill’s insensitive behaviour for sharing the address of a female politician on a public platform. She emphasized that Twitter should take notice of such blatant bullying and irresponsible behaviour by a government official.”

On August 21, 2020, women journalists of Pakistan issued a joint statement against the smear online campaign and trolling and presented their demands to address the issue. The matter was addressed in the senate's committee but no substantial steps were taken to curb the pattern of intimidation. The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands that the government in Pakistan immediately look into the demands of the statement issued by Women journalists. We urge the government to hold his spokesperson accountable for his continuous intimidation towards journalists.