December 8, 2020 – Ailia Zehra, journalist and managing editor of the Naya Daur Media, was targeted with an online smear campaign initiated by the ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its followers. The campaign followed the airing of the interview of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar with the BBC News and Naya Dour. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) believes these deliberate attacks are aimed to intimidate Ailia for her coverage. We call on the authorities to end their vicious attempts to intimidate the press. Journalists should be able to do their jobs in a free and fair environment. We reiterate that targeting and threatening members of the press is unacceptable.

Ailia and Naya Daur Media outlet have become a target of the ruling party of Pakistan and its supporters following the live broadcast of the interview with former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, on December 2nd. The journalist was subjected to an online smear campaign after she spoke about Dar’s interview. PTI's official Twitter account posted a critical video referring to her TV appearance, which sparked a spiral of hateful comments and threatening messages.

According to the statement of Naya Daur Media, conducting an interview with Dar was forbidden by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). Despite this order, media outlets aired clips from the live broadcast he appeared in. “In any case, we believe that counter-narratives are important in a democracy. But this interview was also turned into a mega scandal of sorts. We see this latest spell of attacks on Naya Daur in the context of the broader issue of the PTI government’s intolerance for difference of opinion. This platform has been at the receiving end of not just online abuse and threats, but on-ground intimidation as well — all for its refusal to be browbeaten into silence.” Naya Daur added.  

Journalist Ailia Zehra revealed that hateful online attacks are the aftermath of her TV conversation where she discussed Dar’s interview. “I have been facing relentless abuse online after PTI’s official account tweeted doctored clips from my recent talk on Naya Daur today about Ishaq Dar’s interview. Let me make this clear: these attempts to intimidate journalists into silence will NOT work. We remain undeterred.”, she said.

This is not the first time Ailia has faced online attacks. Following her coverage of the brutal murder of Shaheena Shaheen on September 9, the journalist encountered online harassment and rape threats that incited others to harm her. Her comments denouncing the barbaric tradition of so-called honour killings triggered anonymous misogynistic trolls online. As a result, Ailia filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Wing regarding the death threats she received on September 19.

CFWIJ has documented at least thirteen major online trolling campaigns against women journalists in Pakistan this year. We joined the #AttacksWontSilenceUs campaign with Pakistani women journalists to remind the government and other public agencies of their responsibility to ensure the safety of women journalists and respect press freedom. We stand with Ailia Zehra, who is repeatedly threatened and targeted. At the same time, we deeply appreciate her efforts to encourage and inspire other journalists in Pakistan.