LAHORE: The Coalition for Women in Journalism finds the persistent online campaign against Gharidah Farooqi alarming.
“Women journalists face an onslaught of abuse when it comes to their work, and much of this stems from online harassment and bullying. The fact that Farooqi is being targeted for simply reporting facts and not even expressing an opinion is telling. This campaign must be stopped immediately,” they said while urging the local authorities and social media platforms to take responsibility.
“We urge the government to take proactive measures to ensure that no harm comes to Farooqi.”
Other organisations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom Network, Network of Women Journalists for Digital Rights and Amnesty International also joined the condemnation.
The vicious attacks, death threats and abuse being hurled at @GFarooqi underscore the critical need to protect women online. We hope serious action will be taken against those who make women feel unsafe.
— Amnesty International South Asia (@amnestysasia) March 20, 2019
Veteran journalist Gharida Farooqi came under fire on social media when she tweeted a year old picture of the Christchruch mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant who was visiting Pakistan at the time. Counter-criticism suggests that the criticism was unreasonable.