NCCIA summons Aleema Khan
July 17, 2025July 2025: Driving Global Action Against Online Gender-Based Violence
August 13, 2025The Digital Rights Foundation strongly condemns the horrific “honour” killing of a married couple in Balochistan. This brutal act, allegedly carried out by Sardar Sherbaz Khan, is not only a grave violation of human rights and dignity, but a chilling reminder of how violence against women and marginalised individuals continues to be normalised, justified, and even celebrated in Pakistan, both offline and online.
What is equally horrifying is the aftermath. We are deeply concerned that the accused has garnered a mass fan following on social media platforms, where videos celebrating the double murder are being circulated widely. On TikTok specifically, there has been a surge of AI-generated videos spreading misinformation, glorifying and justifying violence under the guise of honor and virtue, and, in some cases, disturbingly romanticizing the violence. This glorification of a murder, paired with the spread of graphic footage of the killings, is an indictment of the way digital spaces are being weaponised to promote misogyny, incite violence, and dehumanise victims.
After the viral video spread on social media, there has been a spike in AI-generated content on platforms condemning the attack while stereotyping different ethnic groups, like Baloch and Pashtun folk, as perpetrators of violence against women in the country. This stereotyping along ethnic lines is especially problematic considering the disturbing spike in violence against women and girls in Pakistan, on the streets, in homes, and increasingly, online. In 2025 alone, there have been three cases of violence against women/honor killings, for their online activity. In January, a man killed his 15-year-old daughter after she refused to stop sharing videos on TikTok. In May, Sana Yousuf, a social media influencer, was murdered in her home by a man whose advances she had repeatedly rejected. In July, a man shot his daughter after she refused to delete her account on the popular video-sharing app TikTok. Following these incidents, there has been widespread social media commentary around how these women have been “asking for” the violence, or many times questioning their promiscuity to justify the violence against them. The recent incident in Balochistan is no different. Many social media users have been raising questions about the victim’s honor for choosing to marry based on her free will. The video circulating online as of now goes to show that women will always be questioned based on their honor and virtue. From the online harassment and defamation campaigns targeting women to countless cases that go unnamed and unaddressed, it is clear that systemic failures are emboldening perpetrators and enabling a culture of impunity.
We call on federal and provincial authorities to ensure swift and transparent justice for the victims. We also urge social media platforms to immediately take notice of the glorification of this crime and to take urgent action against the accounts promoting such violence. There must be accountability not just for those who commit such crimes, but for the systems and platforms that allow them to be celebrated.
We sincerely urge for justice to be served.
