ISLAMABAD: Facebook has the worst track record when it comes
to cases of online harassment, according to a report released by the
Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) on Wednesday.
In fact,
nearly half of all complaints received by DRF’s cyber harassment
helpline involved individuals who were experiencing harassment, such as
creation of fake profiles, non-consensual use of information,
blackmailing, and unsolicited messages, via Facebook.
The
toll-free helpline 0800-39393, which has been active for nearly a year
now, received a total of total 1,476 calls, of which 67pc came from
women.
According to a breakdown of the data, half of all
calls came from the most populous province, Punjab, while other areas’
totals are as follows: Sindh (18pc), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (5pc),
Balochistan (2pc), Azad Kashmir and Fata (1pc) and Islamabad (5pc).
According
to activist and DRF founder Nighat Dad, “the helpline aims to fill the
gaps of service delivery to complainants and victims of online
harassment – to do what law enforcement and other organisations cannot –
while paying special heed to gender-sensitivity and mental health.”
The
report also makes certain recommendations for government and law
enforcement agencies to improve the reporting mechanisms for cyber
harassment.
“There is an urgent need to build the
technical and financial capacity of the National Response Center for
Cyber Crime (NR3C) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to deal
with complaints in a timely and satisfactory manner,” the DRF statement
said.
The report called for investigation officers and
prosecutors to be trained in cyber crime laws, internet governance,
criminal procedures and trauma counseling.
“We recommend
that the FIA form a separate desk for addressing online harassment with
[women] investigators [who are given] gender-sensitisation training.
Lastly, the FIA is urged put in place case management and tracking
systems to ensure an accessible complaint registration procedure and
effective follow-up on cases.
When a caller wants to
pursue a legal case or investigate the identity of their harasser, [they
are referred to the] NR3C as the designated law enforcement agency
tasked with the investigation of cybercrime under section 29 of the
Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, the report stated.
“In
emergencies that require immediate action from law enforcement
agencies, or when specialised services are needed, our staff refers the
case to other relevant government authorities or NGOs for assistance,”
the report said, noting that over the past year, 511 cases were referred
to NR3C by the helpline staff.
“In just the past two
months, 38 cases were referred to FIA. Out of these, 15 reported back to
us that they had successfully filed complaints with the FIA at their
various regional offices,” said Shmyla Khan, who heads the DRF helpline
project.
