Pakistan: Smear online campaigns against women journalists intensify amid Aurat March

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PAKISTAN, March 13, 2020 -- In the lead up to Aurat March (Women’s March) this year, several women journalists became a target of extreme trolling and harassment, both offline and online. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the targeting of our colleagues in Pakistan and urges relevant authorities to identify and punish the harassers involved in threatening and abusing journalists.

A few days before Aurat March, CWFIJ member Marvi Sirmed was verbally abused during a live talk show for her feminist views. A local playwright resorted to verbal attacks on Marvi, after which she was subjected to immense hate online. The attacks against Marvi intensified with each passing day.

It was not just Marvi who was bearing the brunt of online harassers, other women journalists including CFWIJ members Gharida Farooqui and Maria Memon, were also being targeted for raising their voice against those opposing women’s rights in Pakistan.

Gharida has been a target of online trolls on several occasions, but this time around she was specifically attacked for supporting a fellow woman journalist Marvi. After she voiced her support for her colleague on TV show, she was called names online.

CFWIJ reached out to Gharida following the hate she has been receiving for her views about Aurat March and her support for Marvi.

“I have received a lot of hate online for a long time and have now gotten immune to it. I do not read such tweets, nor do I give them importance. The problem arises when you start giving importance to such random campaigns. I simply ignore all the posts and memes that circulate against me online. It is true when they say ‘Ignorance is a blessing’. It is my first step of defence against such elements,” Gharida said to CFWIJ.

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She further added that it is not easy for every woman to deal with such instances in the same way. “Some feel intimidated and affected, which is why they stay silent and back off. But this specific campaign against women journalists in relevance to Aurat March further reinstates the significance of Aurat March and how important it is for women to speak for their rights. This is the mindset that keeps women from speaking their mind and raising their voice. The campaign against other women journalists and I is aimed at silencing us. Therefore, we need to fight these powers and continue to speak,” Gharida said when speaking with CFWIJ.

We find the growing hate and abuse against women journalists in Pakistan’s digital spaces very alarming. It has now become increasingly important for relevant authorities to contain the troll army and penalize them for their actions online.

We also spoke with Lahore-based journalist Ailia Zehra, who is a vocal proponent of feminism in Pakistan and has received backlash for participating in Aurat March.

“Being a woman journalist is already very difficult in Pakistan, so when you stand up against something, it is only natural that trolls will get upset because they don’t like the idea of women having a voice,” Ailia said and added, “They start attacking your character, they misuse your pictures and they malign you. The online smear campaign was really ugly. It is unfortunate that the state took no action. The Pakistan Telecom Auhority is very quick to block content that it deems anti-state or critical of the government or security institutions but it never takes action against trolls who harass journalists.”

When speaking about dealing with online harassers and trolls Ailia said, “I only try to engage with those who find my views objectionable, but are willing to have a conversation. It is best to ignore people who are abusive. When any account frequently abuses and engages in trolling, I just block them or mute them.”

She added that it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with them following the other ways they employ in order to intimidate women journalists.

“They start stalking you, they find other accounts you have and your email address. These trolls are everywhere and it is very difficult to ignore them, but I do so for the sake of my own sanity. These trolls should not stop us from expressing our views,” she said.

A few days before the march was to take place, certain conservative elements were threatening organizers across Pakistan against holding Aurat March. On the day itself, the march in the capital city of Islamabad was attacked where participants were attacked with stones and bricks. CFWIJ alum and freelance journalist Annam Lodhi was also reporting on the ground when it came under attack. We asked her if any security advisory had been issued by organizers or the government following the looming threats.

“No advisory was issued for journalists. The advisory issued was mainly regarding covering the march and seeking consent. But nothing related to one’s security because no one was expecting the attack,” Annam said when speaking with CFWIJ.

Journalist Reem Khurshid, who works for an English daily in Pakistan, thinks that the intensifying hate around Aurat March will only encourage more self-censorship. Reem shared that although she is generally not too vocal about women issues, she made an exception this time around. “I felt that it was important to take a very clear and unmitigated stand on Aurat March. But I also understood the attendant risks that come with it and tried to take as many precautions as I could to ensure that the abuse and backlash against me wouldn’t escalate to the point where it would be threatening to me,” she said when speaking with CFWIJ.

Reem further highlighted the effect of draconian measures and legislations that are drafted or enacted with the rationale to protect women against harassment, abuse and online harms.

She said, “These very rationales are essentially weaponized against the free press, social media and the expression of dissent. This is something that needs to be taken into account going forward. Women and women’s issues are being weaponized. It is a difficult balancing act, where the onus is very much on the media to set the right tone and understand the role that they play in making discourse around women’s issues so toxic including people within the industry who harass women when covering such events. There is a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Last year, most cases of threats and abuse that we documented in Pakistan were related to online harassment. These threats and abuse do not remain in the online spaces, in fact, they creep into the journalist’s offline spaces too. Our member and senior journalist Asma Shirazi’s home was broken into on two different occasions, when she was abroad for a vacation with her family. Marvi’s home was also broken into and her travel documents and equipment was robbed as well.

We are worried that the ongoing online attacks against women journalists in Pakistan will intensify with time following the opposition by conserrvative circles within the country. It is high time for Pakistan’s government to take actions against those involved in threatening and maligning women journalists both offline and online. We demand better and safer spaces for women journalists in order for them to continue doing their jobs without any threats or fears.

Reporting by Rabia Mushtaq