The previous entry in this series discussed how online abuse written in Dari and Pashto slips past the regulation systems. So who gets targeted the most? Profession matters, but so do ethnicity, location, and political history, and above all, their “outspokenness.” Afghan Witness, the open-source investigation project run by the UK-based Center for Information Resilience, broadly defines “politically engaged” women. The category includes politicians and activists, as well as any woman whose public success leads others to see her as political. Within that group, four profiles recur throughout the research:

Activists and protesters. When women demonstrated for their rights, online abuse surged, and the investigators documented the recurring use of the word “Bagram” alongside sexual slurs, a shorthand accusing women of having served Western forces.

Journalists. Journalists face a particular form of attack: impersonation. Afghan Witness found a fake account in the name of activist Munisa Mubariz with over 4,000 followers, and several fake Facebook accounts for journalist Farahnaz Forotan, one with more than 6,000 followers. Abusers also attack journalists’ sources instead of the journalists themselves. When reporter Hasiba Atakpal shared a video of a protester allegedly beaten by the Taliban, commenters accused her of faking her injuries for an asylum case.

Worse, this pattern isn’t unique to Afghanistan. A global UNESCO-backed study by the International Center for Journalists found that 73% of women journalists surveyed had experienced online violence.

Former officials. Women who held senior posts under the former government were treated as accomplices to the country’s collapse. One former official told investigators that people felt those who had served the old government had no right to exist on social media. Former Deputy Interior Minister Hosna Jalil was mocked with gendered nicknames suggesting a romantic relationship with a male official.

Exiles. Afghan women diaspora is not safe from the abuse, either: in 2023, Tamana Paryani, an activist now based in Germany, faced attacks from seemingly pro-Taliban accounts after organizing a hunger strike demanding recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

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No single answer explains who gets targeted most. Women are often at greater risk when they speak out against those in power, are part of a group already facing discrimination, or have nowhere safe to turn, whether at home or abroad. The more of these challenges a woman faces, the more likely she is to experience abuse.

Targeting outspoken women doesn’t just end in silencing them. It creates a pattern of silencing, warning every woman online what happens if she speaks up, especially when she’s vulnerable. What female journalists and activists are doing by speaking up at the risk of their own safety is trying to cut out the vicious cycle of oppression and giving other women the courage to resist the intimidation.

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This series has now examined what hate speech is, associated harms, the moderation gap, and who the most frequent target is. Next week, I will return with practical steps to help, from tiny ones to the wave of activism.