Another day, another hate campaign against Pakistani journalists
A latest Twitter based hate campaign against prominent Pakistan journalists portrays them as ‘greedy, treacherous and unscrupulous individuals’ who need to be disciplined if we were to save this country.
Some eight thousand plus tweets have been piled up by Twitter users under the hashtag #صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں which can be loosely translated to “Stop polluting/ besmirching and do some [actual] journalism”, implying that the journalists use their influence to secure personal interests at the cost of perceived national interests. The hashtag trended at number 1 in Pakistan within few hours of its appearance.
The accusations are known and aft repeated and the language symbolic of this network of fake bots that has run similar campaigns in the past. The campaign is dotted with slurs, serious allegations and brazen character assassination. Some of the allegations like that of treason, though unsubstantiated, can endanger the life of the victims. However, such serious accusations have now become commonplace in Pakistani digital space.
There should be a permanent ban on the shity shows of these ass holes, they convey or spread nothing positive but barking.
They are culprits.#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/Z5CEg1a5MN— Babu Azeem (@BabuAzeem1) November 21, 2019
Journalist.. Bitches of riches#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں
— Check te karr😂 (@checktekarryarr) November 21, 2019
Invective and vitriol are hallmarks of hate campaigns.
Ugly Bastard
#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/qHuE4NYeTm
— Mr_Lad (@MrLad7) November 21, 2019
This is called journalism in Pakistan. Such a filthy whore he is. #صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں https://t.co/TMl0E5MhOI
— Mian Abdul Sattar (@mian816) November 21, 2019
او کتو لفافوں پر پلنے والو #صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/3nTfreqJOT
— Mohammad Umar 🇵🇰 (@uummmaarr) November 21, 2019
The campaigners also exhibited violent tendencies towards the journalists. This Twitter user calls for hanging these journalists, because he believes they toe agendas for money.
Govt. Need to Hang up some Lifafies. #صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/sRQqdNvzNO
— Ikram Ullah (@ikramullahpk) November 21, 2019
یہ حامد میر سے لے کر جتنے بھی تھرڈ کلاس صحافی ہیں ان سب پر سب سے پہلے ریاست بین لگائے کہ انکو کسی صورت فوج ائیر فورس سمیت کسی پریس کانفرنس یا کسی چیز میں شرکت کی اجازت نا دی جائے۔۔۔
یہ صحافی گندے غلیظ ہیں ایک آدھ کو پھانسی ہوگئی تو باقی سارے ٹھیک ہوں گے۔۔۔#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں
— Baba Kodda (@BabaKoddaWorld) November 21, 2019
This twitter user has a rather disturbing perception of the journos.
It is true picture of Pakistani Jours,
they are always for sale,
they have no credibility, no intergity,no self respect, each story or a talk show , All is paying agenda, They baskets of shit nothing more #صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/BMjHYjE1w1— Babu Azeem (@BabuAzeem1) November 21, 2019
This one proposes strict accountability to ‘control’ the journos.
Pak Media and Lifafa Anchors are out of Govt control, they should be controlled through a strict Audit system and active Legislation.#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/MkKgzZaAYc
— Ikram Ullah (@ikramullahpk) November 21, 2019
The campaign seems to have expanded to target more and more journalists.
#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/dnzGYc1aMT
— Muhammad Sunny (@sunnyarshid) November 21, 2019
Allegations of treason come handy as a way to harass journalists, as accusers in Pakistan’s digital space are not obliged to carry the burden of proof.
Enemy stooges under the guise of journalists are the biggest internal threat and a cancer for Pakistan. They must be eliminated now without delay
#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں— A Ahmed (@falconwings77) November 21, 2019
Please #صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں pic.twitter.com/G96ZbnRc18
— Ayaan zain (@itsAyaankika) November 21, 2019
Top English daily Dawn is accused of toeing Indian agenda by publishing 90% anti-Pakistan Indian comments. The user doesn’t seem to realize that comments are user generated and newspapers will require additional resources to moderate such huge bulks of content.
#صحافت_کریں_غلاظت_نہیں
This is Dawn’s newspaper. You can see a picture of Quaid Azam on the front page. This newspaper has a negative attitude towards Pakistan. They always try to please Indian readers,90% they published Indians Comments full of hate for Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/hmst9dfkmT— fouzia shafiq 🍁 (@fouzi_s) November 21, 2019
The campaign, once again, has all the attributes of being politically motivated and engineered. It targets its usual suspects, including top journalists Hamid Mir, Asma Shirazi, Shahzeb Khanzada, Mansoor Ali Khan and Gharida Farooqi among many others. The majority of the accounts behind the campaign appear to be fake bots, which share the same bits of information and graphics again and again to propel the hashtag higher up on the trends.
Journalists and rights activists in Pakistan continuously complain about the shrinking space for media freedom. They alleged that tactics like intimidating and harassing journalists are used to gag their voices.
