KARACHI: Nearly 72 per cent of female journalists in Pakistan and 61pc of male journalists experienced digital insecurity, according to a report and survey conducted by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF).

When women journalists were asked how the harassment of female and male journalists differed, 71pc reported that female journalists were more likely to be attacked on their appearance. Similarly, 68pc of them believe that female journalists are attacked more than male journalists on their personal lives.

The DRF, a registered research-based advocacy non-governmental organisation, conducted a nationwide survey on the state of security of journalists to shed light on the threats and concerns journalists face online, which runs parallel to the harassment journalists face offline.

The report titled “Digital (In)Security of Journalists in Pakistan”, which was launched on Friday, seeks to understand the digital risks that journalists face in the country.

Around 66pc of the journalists who participated in the survey said that they had suffered online insecurity. Journalists face issues of digital security in various ways, including blackmail, hacking, threats, sexual harassment, data theft, stalking, and attacks through malware or phishing emails.

The survey was divided in two parts — the first part inquired journalists’ understanding of digital security. The second one was only addressed to journalists who had experienced online threats or harassment.

In another question, journalists were asked how online insecurity affected their careers. Nearly 45.5pc respondents said that online insecurity resulted in self-censorship. The report claimed that 92pc of the respondents believed that online harassment in journalism was “extremely common”.

The report seeks to posit recommendations to lawmakers with reference to the under-consideration Journalist Protection Bill. The first draft of the bill did not include provisions for the digital security of journalists.

According to the report, there is a dire need for organisations to realise the nature of this threat and for them to conduct training for digital security and privacy. Only 24pc of the respondents reported to have received training of digital security and privacy.

The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C) has failed to make a substantial change on two counts. While the FIA set up the NR3C almost a decade ago, they failed to disseminate information about how digital threats and crimes could be reported to them.

DRF founder Nighat Dad told Dawn that media organisations should own the issue and incorporate a digital security policy at the workplace to protect their reporters.

According to Ms Dad, prevention was another important step. “Journalists need to be careful and remember three things — do not use one password for everything and keep changing it every few months, a two-step verification process is vital as it will warn you immediately if someone is trying to access your account. Be careful with your sources...what you do online is linked to your source’s security,” she said.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2018