What happened: Recently, team ProperGaanda reached out to the digital creator Komal Shahid; as it was seen on her Twitter, she shared a screenshot of a dm that she received. Further investigating, we reached out to Komal for her comment on the matter and replied back to all the questions in her thread regarding, “Why didn’t you share the username of such people?” Interview: It was highlighted by Komal that sharing usernames of such people, “Who we don’t know is whether a fake account or is someone influential behind it, would do?” Komal further highlighted and we scrolled down Komal’s timeline to see that does she share screenshots without usernames or not? As Komal had shared, “I often share screenshots of people in my DMS, something funny or something weird, but I always crop out the name; it’s just the habit.” She added another vital point, “I only expose the name if it’s beneficial, or helpful in revealing the identity,” as Komal highlighted another vital point, “How can we expose an account that is already fake? No pictures? No proper name?” Adding to her comment, “It only gives them the haters unnecessary attention that they LOVE getting.” What does Komal think about the hate comments? Being a digital creator in Pakistan, is one of the things that might invite criticism, as well as un-called hate. However, Komal shared, “ I don’t mind hate comments as long as they are not personal.” Whereas, she also said, “A rape comment is the worst thing you can send someone. It’s weird how Pakistani men find it so easy to use this word while as a woman it was really traumatising for me.” After receiving that dm, Komal said, “I started shaking, and I just kept looking at my house’s window. And I got another anxiety attack until my brother and sister comforted that it is just another hater.” At the same time, she shared that supportive comments also helped her ease down. The all-important question; “Was it reported to FIA?” Komal, exclusively with ProperGaanda, shared that she had lodged a complaint with the FIA and even messaged them on Twitter and emailed them, but “To my surprise, nothing has happened yet. Maybe I have to go to the office in person because I have heard that they are really efficient.” Here’s the message that Komal wants to share with every woman in Pakistan and all over the world: The world and the Pakistani society which has been denoted as a “cruel” or a difficult living place, especially for the women, women in Pakistan receive rape threats, and misogynistic remarks being part of the patriarchal society, and Komal said, “I believe strict actions should be taken against such people. And these comments are definitely not okay.” Whereas, Komal being a digital creator, talked about the creator space for other females as to how hard the space is, “I am lucky that I have my family’s support, some girls don’t have it when we make our accounts public, we welcome all kind of comments. But then these rape comments must be stopped because these are not okay!” Let’s vow to provide safe space for the women of Pakistan and as Komal said that let’s be kind, caring and compassionate and really nice towards people.
Menu
Menu