Female influencers

After the fatal shooting in Pakistan of a teenage social media influencer, Sana Yousaf, we bring together female influencers around the world to share their experiences.

Sana’s death has ignited a fierce debate about women on social media and the safety of influencers. We hear from three women in Pakistan. Between them, they have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube but face abuse every day.

Zenith Irfan is the first woman to ride a motorbike solo across Pakistan, Mahnoor Rahim is a fashion influencer, and Sabah Malik is a comedian and cultural commentator in the country.

“I truly believe that just being a happy confident woman is enough to really trigger people,” Sabah tells us. “And when you add the accessibility to seeing us doing that online, it really upsets people.”

You don’t have to look far on any social media channel to see that wherever there’s online content, there are unpleasant or abusive comments. But when that content is generated by women, negative comments are often personal, misogynistic or threaten violence. Female influencers in the US, Mexico City and Peru share advice on how they stay safe.

Presenter: Mark Lowen
BBC producer: Laura Cress
Boffin Media producer: Richard Hollingham

An EcoAudio certified Boffin Media production in partnership with the OS team.
(Photo: Zenith Irfan, social media influencer. Credit: Mihaela Noroc)