RSF urges Pakistan government to disown online abuse against BBC, Independent journalists

Journalists stand maintaining social distancing in a demonstration to mark the World Press Freedom Day during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Islamabad on May 3, 2020. (AFP/File)

• RSF releases statement over smear campaign against Urdu services of the two British media outlets, asks government to prosecute culprits
• Thousands of Internet users have called for boycotts of the services and threatened their journalists in a two-week-old campaign

ISLAMABAD: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) this week asked the Pakistani government to disown a major online smear campaign against the Urdu-language services of two British media outlets, the BBC and The Independent newspaper, and to prosecute those who have threatened their journalists.
Thousands of Pakistani Internet users have called for boycotts of the two services and threatened the outlets’ journalists in the course of a two-week-old hate and defamation campaign.
“These online hate campaigns ... not only threaten press freedom but are also extremely dangerous for the journalists who are the targets of the death threats,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.
“Calling for journalists to be murdered, with the aim of intimidating and silencing anyone critical of the authorities, is completely unacceptable. We urge the federal government to disown such calls, and we ask the prosecutor’s office to initiate proceedings against all those responsible for these threats.”
The Pakistani military and government have repeatedly denied they are behind online hate campaigns, or that they suppress the media.
Pakistan is ranked 145th out of 180 countries on RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
A video posted on January 2 on Siasat.pk, a news and discussion site that supports Pakistan’s ruling party and armed forces, attacked the “personal opinions and political inclinations” of BBC Urdu’s journalists and accused the BBC of pursuing an editorial policy that is “against the army and the government.”
The surnames, first names, jobs and Twitter account details of ten BBC Urdu journalists were posted online at the same time as the video. Analysis of the comments indicates that the campaign was being orchestrated in reprisal for several editorials and op-ed pieces regarded as overly critical of the authorities.
Threats were also made against Pakistani journalists working for The Independent in late December after its Urdu website posted a story about the deaths of four Pakistani soldiers in a helicopter crash. They were criticized for not referring to the dead soldiers as “martyrs” – the term that the Pakistani armed forces try to impose in such cases, RSF said. 
Thousands of Internet users subsequently called for the site to be banned using the #BoycottIndyUrdu hashtag.