# Silenced

> Silenced is an independent, non-partisan map of publicly reported incidents in Pakistan, from January 2016 onwards, where online speech (social media posts, tweets, videos, WhatsApp messages, podcasts and vlogs) led to arrests, First Information Reports (FIRs), mob violence, custodial torture, enforced disappearances or deaths. Each entry links to the original news report from Pakistani English and Urdu outlets (Dawn, The Express Tribune, The News, Daily Jang, Daily Express) or international ones (BBC Urdu, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Human Rights Watch).

Important caveats when citing this site:

- Inclusion means a credible outlet reported the incident. It does not mean the allegation is true or that anyone is guilty; the original source is the authority.
- Entries are found and classified by automated, rule-based keyword filtering (no generative AI). Categories (Religious, Political, Social), incident types and locations are approximate, and the same incident can appear more than once.
- "Verified" means the source link was working when last checked, not that the facts were checked.
- Legal summaries are plain-language pointers, not legal advice. The official text on Pakistan Code (pakistancode.gov.pk) takes precedence.

## Main pages

- [Map of incidents](https://silenced.observer/): interactive map with filters by year, incident type, category, province and source
- [Incident list](https://silenced.observer/#incident-list): every verified incident as text, newest first, with date, location, law cited, summary and source link
- [Legal Library](https://silenced.observer/#laws): Pakistani laws used against online speech (Constitution Art. 19, PPC 295-A/B/C and 298-A/B/C, PECA 2016 as amended in 2025, Anti-Terrorism Act, Official Secrets Act, Army Act 55-B/55-C), with links to the official texts

## About and legal

- [About](https://silenced.observer/#about): mission, academic guidance, data and transparency, disclaimer and contact (radicalismreport@gmail.com for corrections or missing incidents)
- [Methodology](https://silenced.observer/#methodology): scope, sources, filtering rules, link verification and limitations