In Pakistan, cyber harassment is not the work of anonymous trolls alone. It is enabled—if not outright maintained—by institutional structures that allow it to thrive without consequence. A recent research study co-led by a team of feminist researchers (Maira Asif, Sidra Fatima Minhas, Fajeera Asif) on tackling marginalization in online spaces offers sobering evidence: […]
Weaponizing the Web: How Cyber Harassment Silences Marginalized Voices in Pakistan
Pakistan’s marginalized communities—women, transgender individuals, and religious minorities—face a hostile online environment where cyber harassment is systematically weaponized to silence them. A recent research study on tackling marginalization in online spaces found that digital violence in Pakistan extends offline power structures. Online abuse, from doxxing and deepfake technology to disinformation campaigns and targeted hate speech, […]