The Global Social Network
The story of the padlocked grave has gone viral, thanks to the mainstream Indian news media ranging from the Times of India to NDTV. The story links the image of a padlocked grave to rising necrophilia cases in Pakistan, with the claim that the image is an example of how parents lock their daughters’ graves in Pakistan in order to prevent rape. Alt News, a fact-check site run by…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2023 at 5:00pm — 4 Comments
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan passed away this week. May his soul rest in peace. Amen. He was a true patriot who honestly served his country to the best of his ability. He strengthened his country's economy, society and military. Per capita incomes of Pakistanis doubled on his watch, lifting the country from a low-income to a middle-income country. His government liberalized media and telecommunications, leading to rapid growth in both industries. President Musharraf dramatically…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on February 7, 2023 at 9:30am — 7 Comments
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington on September 23rd for a bilateral meeting with President Joseph R. Biden followed by a 4-nation summit involving Australia, India, Japan and the United States. An unhappy meme of his visit went viral on social media as Mr. Modi wrapped up his visit to the United States. …
Added by Riaz Haq on September 26, 2021 at 7:00pm — 12 Comments
Hamid Mir, a primetime TV talk show host, has reacted angrily to an attack on fellow Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor this week. Without explicitly naming anyone in his emotional outburst against the Pakistan Army and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence Service), Mir has accused their leadership of cowardice in allegedly ordering attacks on journalists. Dredging up the name of "General Rani", believed to have been the mistress of former Army Chief and President Yahya Khan in the…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on May 30, 2021 at 11:30am — 10 Comments
Citizen journalists armed with ubiquitous smartphones and access to social media platforms have challenged the western media reporting of the latest Israeli brutal assault on Gaza. While the established western media outfits have stuck to "Israel's right to defend itself" narrative, this new breed of young journalists has posted unfiltered images and videos of the Israeli war crimes against…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on May 21, 2021 at 12:00pm — 13 Comments
On 14 February 2019, a terrorist attack near Pulwama in Kashmir killed 40 Indian soldiers. It has now come to light that Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami had prior knowledge of it. He wrote in a WhatApp message to BARC TV rating company head Pratho Dasgupta on that day that his channel was “20 min ahead on the biggest terrorist attack of the year in Kashmir”. "This attack we have won like crazy", he added. Arnab Goswami has close ties to the nation's Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister Narendra…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on January 21, 2021 at 10:30am — 21 Comments
Oxford University's report on global disinformation ranks India and Pakistan among top 17 "high cyber troop capacity" countries. The report defines "cyber troop capacity" in terms of numbers of people and the size of budget allocated to psychological operations or information warfare. "Cyber troop activity" as defined by the report includes social media manipulation by governments and political parties, and the various private companies and other organizations they work with to spread…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on January 15, 2021 at 10:30am — 9 Comments
Rapid growth of broadband access in Pakistan is changing the country's media landscape. Digital advertising revenue is forecast to grow by 32% in 2019 to Rs. 10.8 billion ($103 million), 12% of total national advertising revenue (NAR), according to Magna Advertising. Digital marketing expert Lars Anthonisen believes Pakistan is quickly becoming a "…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on July 11, 2019 at 7:31pm — 12 Comments
Indian government and media have made a series of false claims about Balakot "militant casualties" and "shooting down Pakistani F16". Both of these claims have been scrutinized and debunked by independent journalists, experts and fact checkers. There is no dispute about the fact that Squadron Leader Hasan Siddiqui of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), flying a Pakistan-made JF-17 fighter, shot down Wing Commander…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on March 2, 2019 at 9:52pm — 34 Comments
Pakistan's 88 billion rupee media industry is in the midst of a major shakeout after a long period of rapid double-digit growth since the turn of the century. Hundreds of journalists and other staff have lost their jobs. At least one TV channel, Waqt News, has closed while several others are downsizing. While such consolidation was long overdue after nearly two-decade long period of explosive growth, the PTI government's decision to reduce advertising budget, which constitutes nearly…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on December 9, 2018 at 5:00pm — 17 Comments
Pakistan's 88 billion rupee media industry is in the midst of a major shakeout after a long period of rapid double-digit growth since the turn of the century. Hundreds of journalists and other staff have lost their jobs. At least one TV channel, Waqt News, has closed while several others are downsizing. While such consolidation was long overdue after nearly two-decade long period of explosive growth, the PTI government's decision to reduce advertising budget, which constitutes nearly…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on December 2, 2018 at 6:30pm — 4 Comments
What conspiracy theories are being bandied about in Pakistani media coverage of general elections scheduled for July 25, 2018?
Why are Jang and Dawn, Pakistan's top 2 media…
ContinuePakistani media coverage of the general elections scheduled for July 25, 2018 is dominated by discussion of conspiracy theories about the alleged involvement of Pakistan's "establishment" (euphemism for Pakistani military and intelligence agencies) to "rig" the vote to favor Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. Some in the media also accuse the "Deep State"…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on July 21, 2018 at 10:00am — 8 Comments
In a 2017 Super Bowl Sunday interview with President Donald Trump, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly authoritatively declared Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s a killer.” Trump replied with the question: “What, you think our country’s so innocent?”
Trump did something similar more recently after his Singapore Summit meeting…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on June 19, 2018 at 5:00pm — 38 Comments
Pakistan's 46 million young voters of ages 18-36 years, up from 41 million in 2013, will likely have the biggest impact on the outcome of the elections this year. Among other notable changes in the electorate is the number of non-Muslim voters that has jumped 30%, significantly faster than the 23% growth in overall voter registration in Pakistan since the last elections in 2013, according to data from the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Pakistan's young demographics and…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on May 31, 2018 at 10:00am — 10 Comments
Many intelligence agencies are turning to the use of smartphone malware and spyware for the purpose of hacking and surveillance. The list of such agencies includes but not limited to US CIA, NSA, Mossad, RAW, MI6, ISI and others. Global proliferation of cyber hacking tools appears to have been accelerated with the US CIA's loss of control of its hacking tools including spyware, malware, viruses and trojans.
Stealth Mango and Tangelo:
Lookout, an American…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on May 23, 2018 at 11:06am — 21 Comments
Social media newsfeeds are driven by users' profiles to reinforce their preferences and prejudices. Newsfeeds are customized for each user. Any posts that don't fit these profiles don't get displayed. The result is increasing tribalism in the world. American and British intelligence agencies claim that Russian intelligence has used social media to promote divisions and manipulate public opinion in the West. Like the US and the UK, Pakistan also has ethnic, sectarian and regional…
ContinueAdded by Riaz Haq on April 29, 2018 at 6:47am — 31 Comments
Added by Riaz Haq on November 4, 2017 at 11:00pm — 17 Comments
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Aaron Bushnell, an active serviceman in the United States Air Force, burned himself to death in front of the Israeli Embassy in protest against the US policy in Gaza. Before setting himself on fire in what he called an "extreme act of protest", he said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide". Polls show that the vast majority (63%) of Americans want an immediate end to the carnage being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza. …
ContinuePosted by Riaz Haq on February 27, 2024 at 5:30pm
Independent candidates backed by the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party emerged as the largest single block with 93 seats in the nation's parliament in the general elections held on February 8, 2024. This feat was accomplished in spite of huge obstacles thrown in front of the PTI's top leader Imran Khan and his party leaders and supporters by Pakistan's powerful military…
ContinuePosted by Riaz Haq on February 16, 2024 at 9:22pm — 1 Comment
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