Over 5,000 cases handled by Digital Rights Foundation’s Helpline in 18 months as hacking, deepfake abuse, blackmail and sextortion emerge as major threats

Lahore, 14 May 2026: Today, Digital Rights Foundation released a major new report titled Digital Threats Against At-Risk Communities in Pakistan, documenting the scale and severity of online violence faced by women, trans women, journalists, lawyers, religious minorities, and human rights defenders across Pakistan.

Drawing on data from DRF’s flagship, survivor-centred Digital Security Helpline, the report analyses the 5,041 new cases handled between May 2024 and December 2025 and reveals a deeply gendered and identity-based landscape of digital harm. 

The findings show that women and trans women in Pakistan are increasingly being targeted through hacking, image-based abuse including AI-generated deepfakes, blackmail, sextortion, and coordinated online harassment campaigns often designed to silence, isolate, intimidate, or socially punish survivors.

The report further warns that digital threats in Pakistan are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader structural failure in which vulnerable communities are left exposed by slow platform responses, inaccessible security infrastructure, and cybercrime systems that frequently fail survivors. 

Among the report’s key findings:

• Women and trans women faced the highest rates of hacking, image-based abuse, blackmail, and sextortion
• Survivors frequently reported coordinated harassment and platform inaction during crisis situations
• 92% of surveyed complainants reported reduced risk after receiving support from DRF’s helpline
• 64% received an initial response within minutes
• Major barriers to digital safety were not lack of awareness, but affordability, device limitations, internet shutdowns, and unresponsive platforms

The report also evaluates the effectiveness and usability of digital security tools recommended during active incidents, including MalwareBytes, OONI, HTTPS Everywhere, and LastPass. The findings reveal that many widely recommended tools do not account for the realities faced by users in the Global South, including low-bandwidth environments, unstable connectivity, language accessibility gaps, and cost barriers.

DRF is calling on Pakistan’s cybercrime and law enforcement institutions, particularly the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), to adopt survivor-centred and gender-sensitive procedures with transparent timelines and protections against retaliation. The organisation is also urging social media platforms to establish emergency reporting systems with guaranteed response timelines and anti-amplification measures to limit the spread of harmful content during review periods.

“Deepfakes, hacking, sextortion and coordinated abuse have become tools of control against women and marginalised communities in Pakistan,” DRF Founder Nighat Dad said. “Digital violence is not only virtual. It is actively reshaping people’s safety, careers, and ability to participate in public life.”

Available to read online here, the report further calls on global technology companies and digital security tool developers to build tools designed for the realities of the Global South, including offline-first functionality, low-bandwidth compatibility, regional language support, and subsidised emergency access for frontline defenders and vulnerable users.

About DRF’s Digital Security Helpline

The Digital Security Helpline (formerly the Cyber Harassment Helpline) has been providing free, confidential digital security support since 2016 for individuals facing online harassment, hacking, image-based abuse, doxxing, impersonation, and other forms of digital threats.

Toll-free helpline: 0800-39393
Email: helpdesk@digitalrightsfoundation.pk
Digital Rights Foundation Website