Regional Engagements & Domestic Initiatives: DRF Organises Roundtable Questioning the Real Cost of Going Digital

Digital Rights Foundation convened a multi-stakeholder roundtable to explore findings from its policy brief, The Cost of Going Digital: Evaluating Rights Risks in Pakistan’s Digital Governance, prepared by the DRF team, including Legal Associate Minahil Farooq and Program Coordinator Ayesha Babar. The discussion focused on the implications of the Digital Nation Act 2025, particularly in the absence of a comprehensive data protection framework. Participants included national commissions, UN Women, HRCP, civil society organizations, digital rights groups, and activists. The roundtable provided a vital platform for informed exchange, underscoring the importance of inclusive, rights-based approaches to Pakistan’s evolving digital governance landscape.

DRF’s Digital Security Helpline Joins the International Meeting of Feminist Helplines

As Pakistan’s first feminist, survivor-centred Helpline, our expertise comes from our work on the ground. This December, DRF’s Incident Response Analysts Ayesha and Anmol participated in the meeting of the Feminist Helpline Community 2025, organised by Digital Defenders Partnership in Barcelona. Our Analysts emphasised upon the importance of co-building strategies to escalate cases to social media platforms, and lead an insightful talk around the role of escalations in addressing TFGBV. Through case study based activities and interactive examples, our Analysts demonstrated how to make checklists for drafting escalations, and also highlighted difficulties with escalations such as internal and external barriers in the Trusted Partner Channels. They also participated in a roundtable on tech facilitated gender based violence organized by the Department of Feminism of the Diputació of Barcelona along with Fembloc and presented DRF’s pioneering work. The roundtable hosted representatives from around the globe, including from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Catalonia, Ecuador, Eastern Europe, France, Pakistan, Peru, and Venezuela.

DRF Advancing Survivor-Centred Responses to Digital Abuse

14 of the UN’s 17 SDGs depend on ending Gender-Based Violence. For over a decade, the Digital Rights Foundation has been at the forefront of this mission, especially in the rapidly evolving realm of TFGBV. Representing DRF at the Lahore College for Women University at a UNDP Pakistan-led panel, Research and Grants Lead Seerat Khan highlighted how TFGBV manifests uniquely within Pakistan’s cultural and socio-digital landscape, and stressed the urgent need for redressal mechanisms that can keep pace with emerging online threats. She also briefed students on DRF’s survivor-centred Digital Security Helpline, which continues to serve as a critical support system for individuals facing digital violence.

Our Latest Research & Advocacy:

Scaling Digital Solutions for Punjab: DRF’s Expertise for Global Development

Communications Lead Vaneeza Jawad represented DRF at a UNDP Pakistan-led civil society dialogue on Punjab’s development landscape. Vaneeza highlighted the importance of scaling proven solutions, including DRF’s flagship Digital Security Helpline, and emphasized the urgent need to strengthen digital connectivity as communities grapple with climate-driven disruptions.

The Cost of Going Digital: Findings From Our Policy Brief

Our policy brief, The Cost of Going Digital: Evaluating Rights Risks in Pakistan’s Digital Governance, examines the Digital Nation Act, 2025 with a focus on privacy, data protection, and accountability. Informed by international best practices, it outlines considerations for inclusive and rights-based digital governance. Read the full policy brief here.

DRF & YDF United Against Digital Violence

On December 8th, DRF’s Legal associate, Minahil Farooq collaborated with the Youth Development Foundation on a video to combat digital violence. Minahil talks about the importance of knowledge, awareness and support being given to empower people and their rightful digital safety. Watch here.

The Rise of Gambling and Betting Apps: How to Stay Safe Online

DRF Executive Director Nighat Dad issued a PSA about the dangers of gambling through games and livestreams, specifically the intricacies of this specific niche of gambling. Speaking about the pay-to-win and micro-transactions models and their inherently exploitative nature, she advised staying vigilant with the evolving nature of digital spaces, and urged citizens to reach out to DRF’s Digital Security Helpline at 0800-39393 if they face any digital harm. Catch the PSA here.

Press Coverage

Seeing Isn’t Believing: The Rise of Deepfakes

DRF Research Associate Sara Imran, joined SAMAA TV’s broadcast to discuss and inform the public about the nature of deepfakes in the current digital climate. She touched upon explanations of what digital rights are, how people can protect themselves online, and how DRF can step in to escalate. Watch the full coverage here.

What Pakistan’s Platform Laws Need to Get Right

Executive Director Nighat Dad was invited to speak with Huma Aamir Shah on the Geo Morning Show to shed light on platform regulation and why laws must meet the tests of necessity and proportionality. Nighat emphasised the importance of creating an enabling environment for a digital rights market to prosper by ensuring Pakistani laws meet global standards. Watch the segment here.

Events:

Digital Safety for Students: DRF’s Legal Team at UET

On December 10, 2025, Legal Associate Minahil Farooq led an insightful session at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) as part of our advocacy during the UN’s 16 Days of Activism. The discussion focused on online safety, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), and navigating the cybercrime complaint process.

DRF’s Digital Security Helpline Leads Session at the Youth Summit Punjab in Lahore

DRF’s Incident Response Analyst, Ayesha, facilitated a dedicated breakout session on tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), where she engaged youth volunteers, civil society members, and government representatives in understanding the forms, impacts, and risks of online abuse. The session focused on survivor-centred and trauma-informed responses, the role of community and youth leadership in prevention, and practical strategies for reporting, digital safety, and collective action to address TFGBV at the grassroots level.

DRF Team Leads Session on Cyberbullying at TNS Beaconhouse

DRF conducted a cyberbullying and online safety session for over 80 students at TNS Beaconhouse School. The session aimed to help students understand responsible online behavior, recognize the impact of cyberbullying, and learn practical strategies for staying safe in digital spaces.

Training the Frontlines: Inclusive, Gender-Sensitive Journalism Across Pakistan

In partnership with the Pakistan Press Foundation and Tribal News Network, DRF organized a one-day training workshop in Lahore centered on promoting gender-sensitive and inclusive journalism. The workshop brought together media professionals from rural outlets representing all four provinces and also included dedicated sessions on digital security and workplace safety policies. This was an extension of a fellowship held in April.

From Doorstep to Digital Space: Addressing Digital Violence Against Women Health Workers

DRF’s Helpline Lead, Hyra conducted an awareness and training session in collaboration with the Workers Education and Research Organization, engaging Lady Health Workers, polio workers, and nurses. Their session titled “From Doorstep to Digital Space: Ending Violence Against Women Health Workers” focused on understanding digital violence, its impact on women health workers’ safety and mental well-being, and why such abuse must be recognized and addressed as real workplace violence. Participants were equipped with practical knowledge to identify, respond to, and seek support against digital harassment.

Tech Trends

xAI announces Grok regulations after global backlash against “AI undressing scandal

Elon Musk’s social media platform has been subject to immense global backlash following a scandal involving Grok, X’s official AI chatbot. Grok’s new “Spicy Mode” feature allowed users to produce sexualized images of women and children using very simple text prompts, and this led to a massive proliferation of non-consensual sexualized images on the platform. In response to backlash that saw Indonesia and Malaysia block access to Grok for their users, xAI has announced measures to regulate Grok. This includes geoblocking the ability of users to generate sexualized images in countries where such actions are illegal, restricting image generation to paid subscribers, and preventing Grok from editing images of real people.

Tip of the Month

The “Update later” button might feel harmless, but delaying updates leaves your device exposed.

Those updates often fix security problems that could let hackers access your device, photos, messages, or accounts. When you delay updates, you’re leaving the door slightly open, even if everything seems to work fine.

Software updates don’t just add features, they fix security vulnerabilities that hackers already know about. Once a flaw becomes public, attackers race to exploit devices that haven’t updated yet.

What you can do is:

• Update your phone and apps when prompted
• Turn on automatic updates if possible
• Restart your device after updates

Think of updates like locking your door at night, small effort but big safety. It’s always wise to update apps and operating systems regularly and to not ignore browser and plugin updates.

DRF Resources:

Digital Security Helpline:

The Digital Security Helpline received 307 complaints in December 2025, of which 275 were related to cyber harassment.

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.

Legal Support

DRF’s Legal team processed three complaints in December 2025, all involving women and mostly related to cyber harassment.

If you’re in need of any legal support or advice, you can reach out to DRF’s Ab Aur Nahin portal.

IWF Portal

          www.report.iwf.org.uk/pk

StopNCII.org

        https://stopncii.org/