February 2025 Newsletter: DRF at RightsCon 2025

DRF Executive Director Nighat Dad, Programs Lead Irum Shujah, Research Lead Talal Raza, Cyber Harassment Helpline Lead Hyra Basit and Digital Security Lead Danish Umar attended this year’s RightsCon, a summit that explores the intersections of human rights and technology, at Taipei. With workshops on digital safety and panel discussions on gendered disinformation, DRF collaborated with civil society organizations around the world, particularly from the Majority World/Global South, to raise our voices for tech justice. DRF also set up a booth to showcase our work, such as major achievements from our helpline. Watch our highlights reels of the event here.

Regional Engagements & Initiatives:

Launch of Digital Accountability Collective South Asia (DACSA)

The Digital Accountability Collective South Asia (DACSA), a coalition between DRF in Pakistan, Digitally Right in Bangladesh, and Hashtag Generation in Sri Lanka, was launched to address pressing concerns regarding platform governance, accountability, and the broader impact of existing and emerging technologies in South Asia. DACSA’s collective mission centers on ensuring that tech platforms operate in a manner that is transparent, equitable, and safeguards the rights of all users, particularly those from marginalized communities. It encourages collaboration among South Asian groups working on digital rights in order to build a regional movement to influence platforms and state policies which are inconsistent with the international human rights framework. DACSA published a statement to elaborate on the need and intention behind joining forces for a unified South Asian voice, and then held a successful launch event at RightsCon. Keep an eye out for DACSA’s work and collaborations going forward!

Nighat Dad at AI Action Summit

Nighat Dad participated in a roundtable titled ‘Cybersecurity, privacy, information integrity: leveraging AI to protect democracies’ at this year’s AI Action Summit in Paris. The panelists debated the impact that AI could have on democracy. Given her experience on the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Advisory Board on AI Governance, Nighat Dad emphasized that inclusivity is essential in AI governance, stating “we just cannot take this progress forward when we are not including diverse voices.”

Our Latest Research & Advocacy:

Bytes Behind Bars

DRF has released its latest report, Bytes Behind Bars: Decoding Pakistan’s digital expression legislation, which examines the impact of Pakistani laws–such as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA)–on journalistic freedom of expression. While these laws are ostensibly designed to protect digital freedoms, the report highlights how they serve to curtail press freedom in practice.

Social Media Campaign for National Women’s Day

In solidarity with women’s rights collectives Aurat March Lahore and Women’s Action Forum Lahore, DRF commemorated National Women’s Day by revisiting our 2021 Digital 50.50 issue, with stories highlighting women’s contributions in journalism, art, labour and student politics.

Press Coverage:

NWJDR Condemns Hate Campaign Against Munizae Jahangir

The NWJDR condemned the vile and orchestrated campaign of threats and targeted disinformation against senior journalist and anchor Munizae Jahangir by extremist elements. Read the statement here.

Fact-check on Surveillance Claims

Nighat Dad pointed out to Geo Fact Check that WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption prevents surveillance, leading the fact checker to conclude that rumours about state authorities reading WhatsApp communications are false.

Nighat Dad Criticizes PECA Amendments

Nighat Dad weighed in with Context News about the recently passed PECA Amendment 2025 Act, stating that “every one of us will be affected, including the unsuspecting ‘forwarders’ of content.”

DRF was also mentioned in the following press coverage:

National Engagements:

Roundtable with NCHR on PECA Amendments 2025

DRF in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) organized a roundtable on the recent amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). Senior journalists shared their views on the amendments and their impact on freedom of expression.

Nighat Dad at the Lahore School of Law

DRF Executive Director Nighat Dad spoke at the Lahore School of Law’s Law and Policy Research Centre, addressing law students. She shed light on why digital rights are crucial in the modern digital ecosystem, especially considering legal and regulatory challenges. She also highlighted how PECA has shaped Pakistan’s digital rights landscape.

Digital Safety and Wellbeing Sessions in Beaconhouse Newlands School

DRF conducted two sessions at BeaconHouse Newlands School—one with over 200 students aged 11 to 15, and another with 50 students aged 15 to 18. The sessions focused on promoting responsible online behavior, addressing concerning trends such as the creation of confession pages and meme-based content targeting peers, instances of students attempting to hack or access each other’s accounts, and the misuse of internet access. Students’ voices demanding safer online spaces were also amplified for DRF’s online campaign on #SaferInternetDay.

Policy Roundtable on Workplace Harassment Act

DRF’s legal team participated in the Youth’s General Assembly Policy Roundtable on the Workplace Harassment Act, held on 22 February in collaboration with FOSPAH. The roundtable gathered legal experts, social entrepreneurs, and civil society organizations for an engaging discussion on strengthening enforcement and compliance to ensure safer workplaces for all.

Digital Literacy and Citizenship Bootcamp at University of Sindh, Jamshoro

DRF conducted its 6th Digital Literacy and Citizenship Bootcamp for 54 students at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, with the support of the U.S. Embassy, Islamabad. The students learnt about cyber harassment, online safety safety, disinformation and misinformation in today’s digital ecosystem, as well as the emergence of AI.

Digital Skills Training Workshop in Karachi

DRF recently conducted a training workshop in Karachi as part of its ongoing efforts to empower citizens from at-risk communities and occupations. The session focused on essential digital safety practices, introducing participants to open-source tools for enhanced online security. DRF’s legal team also provided guidance on navigating legal challenges and reporting online hateful content in Pakistan.

Tech trends and tips:

Update: DRF has joined Bluesky

After searching for fresh spaces to engage online, particularly more inclusive spaces with robust policies against harmful content, DRF decided to officially join Bluesky.

Follow us there at bsky.app/profile/digitalrightspk.bsky.social

New tech development: Latest AI Model Grok 3

xAI, an artificial intelligence startup led by Elon Musk, launched Grok 3, their newest AI model. Grok 3 rivals top AI models such as OpenAI’s o1 and DeepSeek’s R1, solidifying xAI’s position as a strong contender in the competitive AI landscape.

The model outperforms industry foundation models across math, science, and coding criteria, matching—and at times surpassing—their advanced reasoning and search capabilities. Grok 3 offers three advanced modes: Think, which breaks down problems into smaller steps using a lightweight model for simple queries; Big Brain, which uses the full model for more complex problem-solving and scientific tasks; and DeepSearch, which browses the internet in real-time to verify sources, generate fresh insights, and serve as a foundation for future AI agents. Grok 3 now powers xAI’s Grok chatbot.

Tip of the month: Boost Privacy Online

There are several social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and LinkedIn, that offer options for limiting the visibility of one’s online so that users can address their privacy concerns, especially users from at-risk communities or with sensitive professions, such as trans individuals, religious minorities and human rights defenders.

Some privacy features that apply to all these social media platforms are:

• Two-factor authentication: Most platforms offer two-factor authentication with various options like the Google Authentication app, mobile number verification, recovery codes and yubi keys.
• Check your last login since it keeps users updated about the devices and places from where their account was last logged in.
• Get alerts: Enabling this option alerts users in case an account is accessed from any unauthorized device.
• Recovery methods: This helps users to recover their accounts in case it gets hacked, using recovery alternative emails or a phone number linked to the account.

DRF Resources:

Cyber Harassment Helpline:

The Cyber Harassment Helpline received 161 complaints in February 2025, of which 88% were related to cyber harassment.

The Helpline also raised awareness about non-consensual use of images (or NCUI) online.

If you’re encountering a problem online, you can reach out to our helpline at 0800-39393, email us at helpdesk@digitalrightsfoundation.pk or reach out to us on our social media accounts. We’re available for assistance from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Sunday.

IWF Portal

DRF in collaboration with Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and the Global Fund to End Violence Against Children launched a portal to combat children’s online safety in Pakistan. The new portal allows internet users in Pakistan to anonymously report child sexual abuse material in three different languages- English, Urdu, and Pashto.

www.report.iwf.org.uk/pk

StopNCII.org

Meta along with Revenge Porn Helpline (RPH) has launched a portal to support victims of Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse (NCII). NCII is a free portal for reporting cases of sensitive or sexual content existing online. Once you report a case, the necessary steps will be taken to block the images from the platform.

https://stopncii.org/