DRF investigates the dissemination of harmful content on social media platforms against transgender community member Dolphin Khan and identifies gaps in the implementation of platforms’ content moderation rules
Trigger Warnings: Discussions of Non-consensual Nudity, Threats of Bodily Harm, Technology-Facilitated Gendered Violence, Blurred/Obscured screenshots from a non-consensual video (for information purposes).
Context:
Pakistan’s transgender community has persistently experienced violence, ostracization at the societal level, and sexual exploitation over the years. In the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone, 267 cases of violence against the transgender community were reported during 2019-2023, but which resulted in only one conviction. To make matters worse, the community has long been a victim of online hate on social media platforms. In October 2024, DRF released “Gendered Disinformation in South Asia Case Study - Pakistan”, which focused on the discrimination and online hate speech directed at Pakistan’s trans community. According to the report, it was found that at least 22% of harmful social media posts (including TFGBV, gendered disinformation, gendered hate speech) were aimed at the transgender community. However, as the report noted, meetings and escalations with social media platforms concerning trans-specific hate speech were unsatisfactory, owing to the latter’s responses - or, in the case of X, largely unresponsive post-change in ownership.
Dolphin Khan Case:
On 29 October, a non-consensual video of a Pakistani trans woman was leaked online, with users on multiple social media platforms sharing it. The video, which the victim Dolphin Ayan Khan - also known as Dolphin Ayaan - has described as being “forcibly recorded”, shows her being forced to strip down entirely and dance, by someone in the background who can be heard but not seen by the viewer, after being abducted at gunpoint.
On the back of this incident, transgender rights activist Dr. Mehrub Awan brought the video to everyone’s attention on X on 30 October. Expressing disdain towards the persistent harassment of the trans community, Dr. Awan stressed:
“...We have literally written papers, done podcasts, book chapters, and spoken to media and officials about “Beela violence” and how organised it is. We, ourselves, have presented data and identified hotspots - Mardan and Peshawar - and profiled the criminals involved. We have done everything that we, as a broken and battered community, could do. Ayyan (sic) was on the roads just a month ago organizing protests, and a year ago injured with bullets. When does this end? What else is expected from a community literally on the receiving end of genocidal murders in Pakhtunkhwa to do?”
Following the incident, Ms. Khan issued a video statement naming the alleged perpetrator behind the video and confirming that police authorities had been informed about the incident. Seeking justice on the matter, she vowed to hold a press conference on this issue in November. According to news reports, on 01 November a case against the perpetrators of the video - which was filmed in 2023 - was filed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA).
Harmful Content On Social Media Platforms: DRF’s findings
DRF conducted preliminary investigations into the matter to understand whether or not these videos were available on social media platforms especially X, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Tiktok. Social media platforms were reviewed on 31 October between 0900 AM-0300 PM, using the search terms “Dolphin Khan”, “Dolphin Ayan”, and “Dolphin Ayan Khan”. Owing to capacity and time constraints, DRF was unable to look at other platforms such as WhatsApp/Snack Video or Snapchat.
Non-consensual nude content: As per initial investigations, it was found that at least two accounts on X had reportedly posted clips of the actual video. However, none of these video clips were posted or available on Facebook, Tiktok or Instagram. Furthermore, DRF came across at least two concrete instances where a link shared by an account on X led to an uncensored video being hosted on at least two different pornographic websites (screenshots provided, but with URLs removed and images blurred). As of the 31 of October, these X profiles were still up, and with active links. Platform rules on non-consensual video: The availability of Dolphin’s non-consensual videos on X are in violation of X’s non-consensual nudity policy. It underscores how users cannot “post or share intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent.” In violation of these policies, an account can either be suspended or temporarily locked.
While the accounts posting Dolphin’s videos had not been suspended at the time of data gathering, it was unclear if they were locked or not. Irrespective of the restrictions, merely locking an account without removing the harmful post seemed an ineffective strategy in this case. DRF’s Cyber Harassment Helpline in the past has recorded similar incidents like these where transgender activists had their pictures/videos shared on the platform which were in violation of this policy, and yet had not been removed by the platform.
Published by: Digital Rights Foundation inUncategorized
Comments are closed.