PPF stands in solidarity with Gharidah Farooqi following abusive trend against her
Pakistan Press Foundation condemns the vile social media trend against journalist and Newsone anchorperson Gharidah Farooqi and stands in solidarity with her. Such abusive campaigns are an attack on press freedom and undermine the ability of journalists to do their work freely being at the receiving end of such hateful messages.
On August 18, an abusive trend started on Twitter against Farooqi. It became the top trend on Twitter in Pakistan. It is unclear who started the trend against the journalist. Farooqi said that after the Digital Rights Foundation and Farooqi had reported the trend to Twitter, it had been taken down.
“Social media forums need to work on emergency basis for online safety,” she added.
Political parties must ensure that they uphold the values of free press guaranteed in the Constitution and don’t encourage or permit their members or followers to partake in such campaigns.
There is no excuse for such harassment.
Journalists and media bodies have expressed solidarity with Farooqi.
The Council for Pakistani Newspaper Editors (CPNE) strongly condemned the campaign against women journalists. In a statement, CPNE President Kazim Khan said that you can disagree with someone but should remain within the boundaries of humanity.
Coalition For Women In Journalism Founder Kiran Nazish said that they stand with Farooqi and “expect the new government to immediately look into this matter”.
Digital Rights Foundation Executive Director Nighat Dad said that even after the trend had been reported, it had generated 128,000 tweets.
“These organized coordinated attacks against women journalists are unmanageable by platforms,” she said.
PPF joins calls for solidarity with Farooqi and we urge authorities to ensure that the safety of journalists online is also guaranteed as protected under the journalists’ safety law.