Ghareeda Farooqi: Trolls and misinformation

Journalist and CFWIJ member Gharidah Farooqi has been, time and again, harassed and abused online. These online attacks directed towards her are mostly by the supporters of  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and conservative, right-wing elements. This timeline reflects the onslaught of abuse Ghardia has been subjected to since 2016.

June 5, 2015: A local website maligned Gharidah for her dressing and urged the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority PEMRA to take notice. Gharidah was an anchor at the Express News channel at the time.

July 25, 2018: In the lead up to Pakistan’s General Elections 2018, Gharidah was among the journalists who were subjected to online abuse. They were wrongfully accused by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) supporters for being biased towards a rival political party Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

October 4, 2018: Ruling party PTI’s state minister Zartaj Gul made misleading remarks regarding Gharidah’s marital status online, after which Gharidah registered a cybercrime case against her. Her remarks brought an onslaught of abuse against Gharidah online at the time. However, no progress was documented in her case.

March 22, 2019: Gharidah was bashed for a tweet where she was reporting simple facts about the Christchurch mosque attacker in New Zealand. Her words were twisted and misused, leading to an orchestrated online campaign targeting Gharidah calling for her abduction, rape and murder. Most of these trolls were PTI supporters and ring-wingers.

March 22, 2019: Gharidah reached out to the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) and addressed the issue to the Information Minister and Prime Minister too. She demanded security but her request was ignored.

September 6, 2019: Gharidah’s pro-Kashmir tweets were reported by India.

March 13, 2020: Trolls and harassers abused Gharidah on Twitter after she wrote an opinion piece on Aurat March. She was also abused for tweeting in favor of the verbal harassment faced by CFWIJ member Marvi Sirmed.

September 14, 2020: Gharidah tweeted about PML(N) leadership including Shehbaz Sharif met with the army last week. She wrote that one of the party leaders confirmed about the meeting. But the party president's daughter Maryam Nawaz was not supportive of the meeting. So Maryam Nawaz has called out Gharidah for tweeting her stance incorrectly and has asked her not to act smart and play nasty. Now her supporters are posting vile comments under Gharidahh's tweet. Most of these are Maryam Nawaz and PML(N) supporters.

February 12, 2021: Gharidah was targeted by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant, Shahbaz Gill on Twitter, when she criticized him for attempting to dox a woman representative of an opposition party by releasing her residential address online.

March 4, 2021: Gharidah experienced a cyberattack. Someone tried to hack into her Twitter account, following a statement of support by the Coalition For Women In Journalism that did rounds on Pakistan’s local media. 

September 13, 2021: Gharidah was attacked once again by an organized troll campaign. Trolls bullied her using edited clips from a TV program in which she discussed the cultural stereotypes incorporated in the Single National Curriculum (SNC). 

September 30, 2021: Gharidah Farooqi faced a second harassment campaign against her within the same month. The vile, deeply gendered campaign was based on false allegations and heresy in relation to a political scandal.