Using the internet in Pakistan is not easy-we never quite know who is watching. Every gesture and expression is scrutinised by a mob of online observers, waiting to prowl. This year, the Digital Rights Foundation registered 2600 complaints, proving that online harassment has now morphed into an epidemic. With social media networks becoming more and more mainstream in Pakistan, it’s not unusual to hear reports of people getting scammed by opportunistic con artists and even stalked for months on end via the internet. Incidents include personal details spilt all over the internet; finances hacked, and families intimidated for money with no mechanisms to defend themselves against the abuse.
Worse still is that social media companies have largely failed to protect women from developing countries because they simply do not understand the language and cultural context in which harassment takes place. In Pakistan, what starts as an innocuous string of texts but ends in physical violence, is an inexcusable failure. The DRF report paints a chilling picture of this abuse-around 58.6% of total complaints were registered by women, largely in connection to blackmail and non-consensual use of information. Anti-press trolling, specifically against women, become increasingly common as well. The report also recorded a marked increase in smear campaigns targeting transgender activists who use social media as their primary mode of communication in a country where they have been categorically excluded from public spaces. Indeed, being online is all the more difficult for people who come from marginalised backgrounds or whose identities are not accepted by the general public.
Given the continuing reluctance of social media companies to take responsibility, victims are forced to block or mute messages themselves; neither option is decisive enough to prevent a recurrence. A tiny handful takes legal action only to be told that it is impossible to track and surveil online activity. But this is a flimsy excuse from a government that routinely censors journalists online for anti-state activity. Authorities have both the resources and technical expertise needed to address a situation like this but are unwilling to go out of their way when they have nothing to gain. *