‘The focus should be on creating safer digital spaces’: Pakistani stars speak out against cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is affecting people across the spectrum and many people don't know about the laws in place to protect them.
A number of celebrities including Naeema Butt, Romaisa Khan, Hiba Qadir and Imran Abbas have expressed their support for a video calling out “technology-facilitated gender-based violence” against actors on social media.
In a clip shared on Instagram, digital creator Rija Rafique identified a YouTube channel run by Noman Aleem, a “drama analyst and critic”, who she claimed was posting videos about Pakistani dramas and actors with digitally manipulated cover photos.
Rafique shared thumbnails of Aleem’s videos — which have since been changed — illustrating how specific body parts of Pakistanis actresses and other prominent figures had been digitally manipulated in order to “entice the male gaze”.
She explained that any act through which Artificial Intelligence and digital tools are used to cause “physical, sexual or psychological harm” to women is termed “technology-facilitated gender-based violence”.
She added that just because a woman is a public figure, “that does not mean you have the right to manipulate her images in any way you wish, because that is illegal”.
Rafique pointed out that under the Constitution, nobody could “attack the natural dignity” of another person. She added that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act (Peca), 2025, Section 2R on the regulation of “unlawful or offensive online content”, particularly subsections (f) and (g), held liable for blocking or removal any online content which is “obscene or pornographic” or “fake”.
Rafique claimed there had been a surge in gender-based violence as social media access grew from 2019 onwards.
She said she wasn’t against the rising popularity of social media, but regretted that “the patriarchy we face in the physical world now has a modified form of misogyny online in the shape of harassment, stalking and image-based violence”.
In a comment under the video, Rafique claimed Aleem had changed the thumbnails of the videos she had mentioned, but she had saved screenshots of the objectionable content.
In the comments section a number of celebrities appreciated her for raising this important issue.
Romaisa Khan said she had come across the channel on YouTube earlier and had to “immediately report it” for its content. She said the issue wasn’t just the thumbnails but also that “how they talk about the actors is disgusting”.
Naeema Butt called on Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to take action against Aleem, calling his videos a “shameful act”. She asked the YouTuber what the actors had done to him and if he had any fear of punishment for what he was doing.
Elsewhere on the internet, veteran actor Bushra Ansari clarified that she was not responsible for politically charged statements being attributed to her on social media.
In a post on Instagram, she said, “It has come to my attention that some fake graphics and political statements are being circulated on social media using my picture. I want to make it absolutely clear to all of you that I have never shared or supported any political narrative and these false statements have zero connection to me.”
In the caption, the actor called the actions “cheap and criminal”, adding that such use of social media was “awful”.