Asma Shirazi faces relentless online harassment, condemnation grows

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published last year |  JP Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Senior journalist and prominent Pakistani news anchor Asma Shirazi is once again the target of a coordinated online harassment campaign, drawing widespread condemnation from press freedom organizations and digital rights groups.

The campaign, allegedly orchestrated by PTI politician Shahbaz Gill and supported by political party members and their online followers, has involved misogynistic posts, gendered insults, and character assassination. Women Press Freedom and the Network of Women Journalists for Digital Rights (NWJDR) have strongly condemned the attacks, emphasizing that such actions are an assault not only on Shirazi but also on press freedom and the right to free speech.

Shirazi, an award-winning journalist, has faced online harassment numerous times before. In 2023, she won a landmark case in the Islamabad High Court against ARY News and PEMRA over fabricated stories aimed at undermining her credibility. However, the current situation underscores the persistence of tech-facilitated gender-based violence against female journalists.

NWJDR highlighted that Shirazi’s case is part of a growing trend of targeted campaigns aimed at silencing critical voices, particularly those of women in journalism. A recent report by the Digital Rights Foundation revealed that during the 2024 Pakistan general elections, 47 of 225 analyzed posts targeted journalists, subjecting them to threats of physical harm, trolling, and gendered insults. Platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook were named as the least safe for women journalists, with 73% of female journalists reporting experiences of online violence.

Women Press Freedom and NWJDR have called on authorities to:

• Investigate the harassment campaign and hold the perpetrators accountable.
• Urge political parties to dissociate from and take action against their members involved in such attacks.
• Develop and enforce policies to curb online harassment, with support from the Ministry of Human Rights and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR).

These organizations emphasized that failure to act will further normalize gendered disinformation and suppress freedom of expression.

As the voices of advocacy grow louder, the online harassment of Asma Shirazi highlights the urgent need for systemic changes to protect women journalists in Pakistan.