In the cyberspace: Technology illiteracy leads to online harassment

People need to be educated about protecting their social media profiles.

PESHAWAR: Over the last few months, a number of cases of women who have complained about being blackmailed and harassed on social media have surfaced.

“The cybercrime wing of Federal Investigation Agency received 3,027 complaints from across the country,” Digital Rights Foundation Executive Director Nighat Dad told The Express Tribune. “Out of the complaints, 45% were about women who were reportedly harassed on social media from August 2014 to August 2015.”

However, registering complaints against online harassment is not a smooth task. Dad said there are a number of challenges faced by women when it comes to filing complaints. “Cultural taboo, lack of implementation of existing laws and technological illiteracy are some of the major challenges,” she added.

According to FIA, in around 90% of the cases, the matter is resolved outside the court as most families want to avoid long legal battles.

“One way to curb the menace is to educate people on how to manage their profiles on social networking sites,” Dad said. “They must come up with strong passwords and keep a check of privacy settings.”

Dad said her foundation works on educating women to report any form of harassment.



“They should provide the relevant information to FIA so that the existing laws can be put into use,” she added.

Relevant laws

The FIA mostly deals with such complaints under sections 36 [violation of private information] and 37 [damage to information system] of Electronic Transaction Act 2002.

The act states under subsection 1 and 2 of Section 37, such offences are punishable with either imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or fine that may extend to a million rupees, or with both.

Moreover, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2015 also suggests punishment for crimes committed in cyberspace.

Misuse of technology

The case of Aisha* is no different. A resident of Nowshera and a mother of two, Aisha was divorced by her husband when Rizwanul Haq, a resident of Islamabad, posted objectionable photos of Aisha on Facebook.

Haq and Aisha were in contact with each other over the internet. The former asked the woman to marry him and divorce her husband. Upon Aisha’s refusal, Haq hacked into her Facebook account and shared the photos. This led to tensions within her family.

However, Haq was arrested by the FIA under sections 36 and 37 [violation of privacy, damage to information system] of Electronic Transaction Ordinance 2002 and Section 30 of Telegraphic Act 1885 [retaining a message delivered by mistake].

Similarly, on April 19, a local court dismissed the bail application of Neelam Ismail, a model, who shared objectionable pictures of a policewoman with her friends via a mobile phone application. However, Neelam and her husband were later freed by the Peshawar High Court on bail.

(*Name has been changed to protect identity)

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2015.