September 30, 2021- Senior journalist Gharidah Farooqi has been hit with yet another onslaught of vitriol and a deeply gendered harassment campaign against her on social media. In an attack launched two days ago, vicious trolls have dragged her name into some explicitly doctored video clips. 

A few days ago a series of such clips, purportedly featuring veteran politician Zubair Umer of opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was shared on the internet. Later Zubair vehemently denied his presence in the viral clips and called it an attempt to malign his name and a new low in politics. The clips went viral on Twitter and a trend was set presumably by the supporters of the present government. Gharidah had called for a fair investigation into the matter and she was targeted for her principle stance. 

This is not the first instance that such a malicious campaign was launched against Gharida, or other women journalists, by supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which leads the incumbent Government of Pakistan. 

The toxic pattern of organized troll campaigns, especially against women journalists, has become a norm in the Pakistani digital space. The CFWIJ stands in solidarity with Gharidah and urges the cybercrime authorities to take action against anonymous keyboard warriors involved in the organized campaign against her.

Shortly after the viral clips purportedly depicting Zubair in a compromising situation went viral, Gharidah tweeted, "Mr Zubair has termed these clips fake and doctored. He also intends to investigate them and get a forensic audit done".

 In another tweet, she added that the fundamental question was who was behind these videos and why they were leaked. Gharidah noted that the right approach was to have a forensic audit done. 

Gharidah further observed that whether the purported acts were private or consensual was a separate matter. She called for a fair and impartial investigation to assess whether the videos were doctored and released to extort favour. And if authentic, the matter should be investigated to determine whether Zubair was harassing or seeking sexual favour from someone in exchange of giving them a job, added the senior journalist.

After tolerating the slew of hateful trends and posts against her for at least two days, Gharidah denounced the troll campaign on Thursday. "Just today we have the Journalists Protection Bill passed from the NA committee. But women journalists in Pakistan fear continuing to live in the horror of harassment, abuse, and all kinds of attacks. Majority of PTI-associated accounts. Govt fails to provide safety to us," she tweeted.

Massive troll campaigns have been launched against Gharidah in the recent past. Her work and principled stance on matters of policy and public interest have been met with vitriol and malicious hate campaigns. The CFWIJ has followed the politically backed attacks on her and formulated a detailed timeline to address the pattern. We stand in solidarity with Gharidah and urge the cybercrime authorities to investigate the matter and hold the involved online trolls accountable.