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  • Sanghar’s mutilated camel stands on her feet again

    Sanghar’s mutilated camel stands on her feet again


    KARACHI:

    A year after being brutally maimed by a landlord who chopped off her leg in Sanghar district, Cammie the camel walked again on Tuesday on all four legs with the help of a prosthetic limb, creating a euphoric feeling among her caregivers.

    She had her front leg allegedly chopped off by a landlord in June 2024, as punishment for foraging in his field for fodder, for which six suspects were remanded.

    She was taken in by the Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) Benji Project for Animal Welfare in Karachi, where she has spent over a year.

    On Tuesday, the shelter provided an update that Cammie had stood up for the first time since her mutilation, along with a video showing her getting used to walking with her new prosthetic leg.

    “It’s been a year of tears, setbacks, rehab, pain, and quiet perseverance. A year where we were told to give up, to move on, to stop delaying the inevitable. But we chose to stand by her. And today, she stood for us all.”

    The shelter thanked its team and supporters, as well as PPP MNA Shazia Marri, PPP Senator Quratulain Marri and the Sindh government for their “unwavering support and trust in [the team’s] mission”. The Sindh government had previously committed to covering the cost of the treatment.

    Both sisters had taken stern notice of the camel mutilation incident. In a joint statement last year, they said that veterinary doctors referred them to CDRS, and rescuing the camel was a “joint effort”.

    Shazia said today that there was “no greater feeling than when months of hard work, care and consistent efforts pay off!” while the latter said: “Dedicated service over momentary outrage any day. You stuck to this long after the temporarily infuriated had forgotten her existence. Everyone on the team who continues to care for Cammie – they are the superstars!”

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  • In defence of Step Brothers: the platonic ideal of Obama-era comedy | Film

    In defence of Step Brothers: the platonic ideal of Obama-era comedy | Film

    It’s 2008. George W Bush is wrapping up his presidency. The world’s economy is in turmoil, but Obama is ascendant. The US’s – and the world’s – problems will soon be solved once and for all.

    The peak comedy of this era is, of course, Step Brothers. Adam McKay’s previous hit collaborations with Will Ferrell, Anchorman and Talladega Nights, hit a rich seam of man-children being elevated to folk-hero status. We could call it a thematic trilogy, if we were being a bit pretentious – like Ingmar Bergman’s faith trilogy, but with more prosthetic testicles.

    In Step Brothers, the duo finally boil their theme down to its bare bones: two grown men in their 40s inexplicably acting like 10-year-old boys. Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (John C Reilly) are brought under one roof by the marriage of their parents (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins). At first, they respond the way any prepubescent imps would, with territorial acrimony and spite, before forming an alliance over their mutual hatred of Brennan’s brother Derek (Adam Scott).

    Brennan and Dale are the epitome of what would later be known online as “large adult sons” – giant, gormless failures, sheltered by low expectations. They brawl, assemble bunk beds and destroy the lives of their retirement-aspirant parents with the destructive force of dogs who don’t know their own size. These are the men of the 2000s: outsize children running rampant in a world that lets them do so.

    Critics were displeased. “Another unashamedly juvenile comedy,” wrote Guardian reviewer Peter Bradshaw. “When I left, I felt a little unclean,” said Roger Ebert. “In its own tiny way, it lowers the civility of our civilisation.” Nothing will get me in the theatre faster than an affront to civility.

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    There are the prosthetic testicles, of course, and there’s dog poo, farting and raucous sex scenes. But Step Brothers transcends all that and builds its own world. It’s juvenile and sublime, dumb and clever, dated and timeless.

    Ferrell and Reilly have a unique chemistry. They are revolting and endlessly endearing, skating easily over the script’s cracks. Together, they invite us to laugh at a dying breed – the coddled, mediocre man – but also celebrate him. As with McKay and Ferrell’s previous films, it’s a man’s world. Women condemn, but are ultimately enthralled by, this masculine freedom. Steenburgen’s Nancy can’t help but protect her large adult son from a world that expects too much (anything) from him.

    The film’s innate irony, meanness and childishness are the dying embers of the gen X sensibility – a generation which, as the comedian Stewart Lee once wrote, “profiteered from the assumption that political correctness was a done deal, and now we could have fun jumping in and out of its boundaries, like street kids round a spurting water main”.

    Ferrell at a press conference for Step Brothers, a comedy ‘juvenile and sublime, dumb and clever, dated and timeless’. Photograph: Theo Kingma/Rex Features

    But of course, these men weren’t dying out. They were mutating into something worse: media behemoths, CEOs and presidents. The dominance of the idiot man was far from over, but it’s far more cruel than innocent. The large adult sons who rule the world are still ridiculous, but they’re winning.

    This may explain why, after Step Brothers, McKay’s films got angrier and more literal. His next, the 2010 buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys, ends on an unparalleled bit of tonal whiplash, as the credits are splashed with infographic stats about the beneficiaries of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The Big Short, Vice and Don’t Look Up are angry polemics dressed up as comedies. “Can you believe they’re getting away with this?” he seems to be yelling at us. Yes. Yes I can.

    “Sometimes I think I am living in a nightmare. All about me, standards are collapsing, manners are evaporating, people show no respect for themselves.” That, once again, is Roger Ebert in his 2008 review of Step Brothers. Roger, it was a beautiful dream, and one I cherish. The nightmare is now.

    • Step Brothers is available to stream on Netflix, Stan, Binge and Prime Video in Australia and available to rent in the UK and US. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here

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  • Bank of England's Bailey backs IMF to help fix problems in global economy – Reuters

    1. Bank of England’s Bailey backs IMF to help fix problems in global economy  Reuters
    2. Pound Sterling faces pressure as BoE warns of multiple economic risks  FXStreet
    3. BoE’s Bailey says global cooperation is needed for financial stability  Reuters
    4. Bank of England chief attacks ‘dangerous’ Trump tariff war  The Telegraph
    5. US Trade Wars Will Hit Households Worldwide, BOE’s Bailey Warns  Bloomberg

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  • Central banks are buying gold from local mines amid record prices

    Central banks are buying gold from local mines amid record prices

    Gold prices fell on Tuesday, retreating from near a four-week high, as a modest rise in the dollar weighed on the metal, although uncertainty over the U.S.-China trade agreement kept investors cautious and limited the bullion’s decline.

    Sven Hoppe | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

    Central banks are increasingly looking to bolster their gold reserves. And they are turning to mines in their backyard to source the yellow metal.

    Besides being cheaper, securing gold directly from mines helps support local industry and bolsters reserves without weighing on foreign exchange reserves, experts said.

    While countries such as the Philippines and Ecuador have been doing this for years, more central banks with access to domestic gold mines have started, increased, or are considering direct local purchases, according to the World Gold Council.

    Nineteen out of 36 respondents in the World Gold Council’s latest central bank survey said they are buying gold directly from domestic artisanal and small-scale gold miners in local currency. Four are thinking of following suit. This is a slightly higher figure than last year’s survey, when around 14 central banks out of 57 said they were buying directly from domestic sources.

    “One trend that we’re seeing is that some central banks, especially in Africa, Latin America, are starting to buy gold directly from domestic, small-scale gold mines, which have really proliferated because of the higher price,” said Shaokai Fan, global head of central Banks at WGC.

    Central banks of Colombia, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, Mongolia and the Philippines are relying on domestically mined gold to build up reserves, according to the industry body.

    Ghana Gold Board — the state agency managing gold purchases on behalf of the Bank of Ghana — in April secured agreements with several mining companies to buy 20% of their gold output, Reuters reported. Last September, Tanzania’s mining authority reportedly mandated that all gold exporters, including miners and traders, put aside at least 20% of their output to sell to the central bank.

    Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

    Gold prices since the start of the year

    “You can make an argument that it’s cheaper than buying gold on the international market, because a lot of these central banks buy gold at a slight discount to the international price,” Fan said.

    Traditionally, central banks acquire gold through the global over-the-counter market — typically centered in London — where gold is transacted via major bullion banks, priced in U.S. dollars, euros, or sterling. These purchases often involve high-purity London Good Delivery or LGD bars, which meet global trading standards and are stored in top-tier vaults such as those at the Bank of England.

    Because of gold’s soaring prices and its attractiveness as a hedge against geopolitical risks, it is natural that the central banks of producer nations would turn to domestic output, said Adrian Ash, director of research at gold investment firm BullionVault.

    Gold prices have been on a tear, scaling fresh highs amid geopolitical uncertainties and waning confidence in other traditional safe havens. Spot gold prices are currently trading at $3,328.3 per ounce, up almost 27% year to date, data from LSEG showed. Buying domestic mine output saves on banking and intermediary fees, as well as shipping costs.

    You’re able to grow your reserves using local currency and therefore not sacrifice another reserve asset [U.S. dollar] to grow your gold reserves.

    Shaokai Fan

    World Gold Council

    However, countries need to pay for processing and refining the metal to LGD standard — the de facto international benchmark for large gold bullion. These processes need to be done overseas if the country doesn’t have domestic LGD refining, which will add costs, Ash said.

    Central banks that buy gold bars from local mines and have domestic LGD refining capacity, nullify those additional costs. The Philippines’ central bank, for instance, is a certified LGD refiner. Kazakhstan has two refiners accredited by the London Bullion Market Association. Russia had seven until they were suspended in 2022 after the country invaded Ukraine. Others such as Ghana and Zambia might need to rely on external refiners, offsetting part of the upfront savings.

    Reserve strategy

    Another compelling driver for buying domestic gold is monetary flexibility. 

    Purchasing gold through the international market often requires dollars — a reserve asset. That means central banks must swap one reserve for another. But that won’t be the case if they use local currencies to buy gold from their own backyard.

    “You’re able to grow your reserves using local currency and therefore not sacrifice another reserve asset to grow your gold reserves,” said WGC’s Fan.

    With rising global debt levels, trade and geopolitical risks on the cards, central banks want to strengthen their reserve buffers to shield against sudden financial shocks. Holding more reserves — in multiple forms — provides ammunition to manage potential crises.

    Out of the 73 central banks surveyed by the WGC, around 95% said they expect peers across the world to raise gold reserves over the next year.

    In the past, if these central banks wanted to buy gold, they would probably just purchase it on the international market, Fan explained. “But if you have local gold production in your country, a lot of central banks are thinking, well, maybe we can use this local gold production instead and add the reserves this way,” he added. 

    Supporting local industry

    Providing support for domestic mining sectors and respective local communities are also key drivers for central banks purchases via local mines. Demand for gold in some countries is too small, and central banks are incentivized to support mining operations in the country, which in turn generates jobs, said Nicky Shiels, head of research and metals strategy at MKS PAMP.

    Shiels, however, noted that purchasing gold via local mines comes with risks.  

    Central bank purchases through international markets often via leading bullion banks offer greater trust and minimize reputational risks for central banks, she said. Much of the gold being bought domestically comes from artisanal and small-scale gold mining — ASGM has been linked with poor labor practices, environmental damage, and illegal smuggling. 

    But it can also be argued that central banks, with their institutional credibility and financial weight, are in a good position to formalize and clean up that supply chain, said WGC’s Fan.

    “Central banks can harness their massive buying power to do good for these artisanal, small scale miners,” he said.

    “Having a credible, large-scale buyer like the central bank gives small-scale miners a legal and fair outlet to sell their gold,” said Fan. “That not only diverts flows away from criminal networks but also improves traceability and accountability.”

    “That’s exactly how we describe it as — a win-win.”

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  • Nicki Minaj & SZA Trade Shots on Social Media

    Nicki Minaj & SZA Trade Shots on Social Media

    Uh oh, the girls are fighting. Nicki Minaj and SZA started trading shots on X Tuesday (July 15).

    The “Luther” hitmaker, who’s currently in the middle of the European leg of the Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar, wrote on X, “Mercury retrograde .. don’t take the bait lol silly goose.”

    SZA’s post came shortly after Minaj first sent shots to Top Dawg Entertainment president Terrence “Punch” Henderson when she wrote, “Yall remember that man from tde who kept bullying me on Twitter for no reason? We have the receipts. lol. I never even responded to him. What was his name again, yall? Im going to give him a nickname. Ima call him ‘Minus 30 million’ from now on. #JusticeForDemoree.” She also added, “Tiny D–k Executive.”

    SZA later claimed that she “wasn’t even talking about or to anyone I had just got off staged talkin bout retrograde . N—AS @’d ME . The F–K YES IM MAD NOW DO YOU NEED THAT !??”

    Minaj directly fired at SZA’s initial tweet by writing, “Go draw your freckles back on bookie #JusticeForDemoree #DepositionPerez Liar liar pants on fire. Sounding like a fkng dead dog.” The hashtags in all of Minaj’s replies are referring to Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, whom she’s also been repeatedly dragging on X, and her daughter Demoree Hadley, who claimed in a recent lawsuit that her mother had her unlawfully institutionalized in mental health facilities for nearly two weeks.

    “I don’t give a f–k bout none of that weird shit you popping,” SZA retorted in the replies.

    In another X post, Minaj wrote, “Bi–i looking & sounding like she got stung by a f–king bee. dot dot dot *Draws on my fake freckles* #JusticeForDemoree.”

    When an X user cautioned SZA about Minaj’s Barbz fanbase coming for her, she swatted at the online hate and counted her blessings, like, “[stepping] my a– out onna packed stadium tour where ppl show me REAL love . IN REAL LIFE ,” having healthy parents and being “the most successful I ever been.”

    When another account tried dismissing her touring accomplishment because she’s co-headlining the Grand National Tour with Dot, she brought up the success of her last SOS Tour, which grossed $95.5 million in 2023, ranking No. 5 on Billboard‘s top 10 highest grossing R&B tours of the year list (It ranked No. 38 on the 2023 year-end top tours list). The lighter 2024 leg of the SOS Tour grossed $41.5 million, ranking No. 7 on the top 10 highest grossing R&B tours of the year list and No. 71 on the 2024 year-end top tours list. “What the f–k you wanna see lemme know.”

    “Lmao lemme go back to being calm shy and meek . Yall have blessed night ! See you tomorrow for night 2 Paris !!” SZA concluded her side of the feud, as she prepares for her and Lamar’s second show at the Paris La Défense Arena on Wednesday, July 16. Yet Minaj wasn’t finished as she commented, “Shutup ugly. #JusticeForDemoree. I’m in a meeting so idk if u was still talking s–t or not so if you didn’t I’ll delete later. Hoe.”


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  • iOS 26: What’s New With Notes and Reminders

    iOS 26: What’s New With Notes and Reminders

    Apple is updating almost all of its built-in apps with new features and design changes in iOS 26, including Notes and Reminders. Many of the changes to the apps are visual, but there is some useful new functionality available that you won’t want to miss.

    Liquid Glass

    The Notes and Reminders apps adopt the Liquid Glass design that’s been introduced in ‌iOS 26‌. Signs of Liquid Glass are more subtle in these apps than apps like Camera, but everything looks a little different.

    ios 26 notes appios 26 notes app
    The Notes app’s toolbar has rounded corners and is more compact with a frosted glass look, and the keyboard also has rounded edges. Buttons at the top are circles or pills, with the Liquid Glass effect.

    In Reminders, the different inbox sections are full color instead of white, and all of the various buttons are rounder than before with a translucent aesthetic. Interfaces for entering and editing reminders also have the rounded edges that are part of the new design.

    ios 26 reminders appios 26 reminders app

    Reminders

    The changes in the Reminders app go beyond simple design updates, with Apple introducing some useful new AI features. The new Reminders features require a device that supports Apple Intelligence.

    Siri Suggestions

    Apple added a Siri Suggestions section to the Reminders app, which will bring up items that you might want to add to your to-do lists that are found in conversations in Mail and Messages. Reminders is able to suggest tasks automatically, taking in information from notes, grocery items in a list, and more.

    ios 26 reminders suggestionsios 26 reminders suggestions
    You’ll also see Reminder suggestions in apps like Mail, and you can tap these to add a reminder without opening the Reminders app.

    Suggestions for reminders are contextual and personalized to each user, and are designed to make it easier to create reminders with fewer interactions. Apple says users will see suggestions for tasks, grocery items, and follow-ups based on emails and other text on the iPhone.

    Automatic Categorization

    The Reminders app is able to categorize related tasks into sections that are grouped together. If you need to pick up several items at the grocery store, for example, the Reminders app can aggregate these in one area.

    ios 26 reminders app categorizeios 26 reminders app categorize
    If you have several work tasks and errands to run, the Reminders app is able to separate them out, so you don’t need to spend time manually sorting your lists.

    Control Center

    There’s now a Control Center option for creating a new reminder. You can use it from the Control Center, assign it to the Action Button, or access it from the Lock Screen by assigning it to one of the Lock Screen buttons.

    ios 26 reminders app control centerios 26 reminders app control center

    Notes

    There are fewer updates in the Notes app in ‌iOS 26‌, but Apple made a couple of changes that will be useful to users.

    Math Notes

    Math Notes now supports creating 3D graphs using three-variable equations. An equation like z=sin(x2 + y2), for example, will create a ripple graph.

    ios 26 math notesios 26 math notes
    Using this feature can be done by typing in an equation and then tapping on one of the variables. From there, choose the Insert 3D graph option. 3D graphs can be enlarged, resized, and moved using tap and drag gestures.

    3D graphs are also supported in iPadOS 26, including with handwritten equations.

    Scrolling Toolbar

    You can now swipe along the toolbar in Notes to see all of the available tool options. Before, you had to tap into a tool section to get to all of the features. Even though swiping is an option to get to more tools, you can still tap to open different submenus for formatting, image generation, lists, tables, and more.

    ios 26 notes app nav barios 26 notes app nav bar

    Markdown

    The Notes app supports exporting content in Markdown in ‌iOS 26‌, so you can save notes as Markdown (.md) files that can be imported into third-party apps that support Markdown. Writing in Markdown is not supported in the Notes app.

    ios 26 notes app markdownios 26 notes app markdown

    The Folders view of the Notes app now has an always-visible search bar at the bottom rather than a hidden bar that’s accessible with a swipe from the top of the app.

    ios 26 notes app main viewios 26 notes app main view

    Call Recordings

    Conversations from the new Phone app on the iPad and the Mac can be saved as audio recordings with transcriptions in the Notes app. This was previously available on the ‌iPhone‌ in iOS 18, but with the Phone app expanding to new devices, the call recording functionality has expanded as well. Transcriptions require ‌Apple Intelligence‌.

    Read More

    We have an iOS 26 roundup that has more information on all of the new features that are available in ‌iOS 26‌.

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  • India’s GAIL issues tender for up to 110 LNG cargoes after executing SPA with Vitol – S&P Global

    India’s GAIL issues tender for up to 110 LNG cargoes after executing SPA with Vitol – S&P Global

    1. India’s GAIL issues tender for up to 110 LNG cargoes after executing SPA with Vitol  S&P Global
    2. GAIL and Vitol formalize 10-year LNG supply deal  Offshore-Energy.biz
    3. Oil India signs 15-yr pact to sell gas from Rajasthan fields to GAIL  Press Trust of India
    4. GAIL signs long-term LNG agreement with Vitol Asia for 1 MMTPA supply  ANI News
    5. Gail signs 10-year deal with Vitol to import 1 million tonnes LNG from 2026  Business Standard

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  • Imran finalises Senate ticket list

    Imran finalises Senate ticket list


    PESHAWAR:

    Former prime minister Imran Khan has finalised the party’s list of preferred candidates for the upcoming Senate elections.

    According to sources, after a detailed consultation meeting with Adviser to the chief minister of K-P on information Barrister Ali Saif inside Adiala Jail, Imran issued the finalised priority list of Senate candidates.

    For general seats, the names include Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Afridi and Pir Noorul Haq Qadri. For the technocrat seat, Azam Swati has been finalised, while Rubina Naz will contest on the women’s reserved seat.

    In a surprising move, Mishal Yousafzai has been nominated in place of Sania Nishtar, who previously held the seat.

    Speaking to the media following the jail meeting, Barrister Saif revealed that Imran was “deeply aggrieved” over a lack of basic facilities and the violation of human rights in prison.

    “Imran Khan is being subjected to mental agony. He is in solitary confinement, without access to TV, newspapers, books and even clothes,” he claimed. “He is also being denied visitation rights, which has left him completely unaware of the outside world, he said.

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  • Vegan charity Viva! ad featuring baby being taken from mother banned

    Vegan charity Viva! ad featuring baby being taken from mother banned

    An ad for vegan charity Viva! featuring scenes of a human baby being taken from its mother to protest against the treatment of dairy calves has been banned for irresponsible, distressing and likely to cause widespread offence.

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the cinema ad, which drew on the conventions of horror films, would have been particularly distressing for viewers who had experienced the loss of a child.

    The ad, seen in March and April 2025, featured a mother placing her sleeping baby in a cot while a lullaby played before a silhouetted figure suddenly appeared standing over the infant and the room went dark.

    The mother switched on a light to reveal a man in a suit running a bottle of milk across the bars of the cot, which was now empty, before he said: “You can’t keep your baby because we want your milk.”

    The next scene showed a calf in a pen and a voiceover stated: “Almost every dairy calf is taken from their mother shortly after birth so most of her milk can be sold to us. And what do you think happens to thousands of male babies like this one?”

    The words ‘Dairy is Scary’ and the Viva! logo appeared on a black screen accompanied by a loud, metallic noise and the sound of something falling to the floor.

    The ASA received 25 complaints, including one from The Dairy Council of Northern Ireland, that the ad was irresponsible, distressing – especially to those who had lost a child – and was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

    Viva! said they aimed to raise awareness of standard practices in the dairy industry, particularly the removal of calves from their mothers shortly after birth.

    The charity said the ad was based on factual information and was intended to inform and encourage ethical choices, not to shock.

    The ASA said viewers would understand that the ad aimed to raise awareness of animal welfare, but said the nature of the comparison was likely to be seen as insensitive by many, and in particular by those with experience of loss or trauma around parenthood.

    The ASA said: “Although the ad did not depict the baby being harmed, and it was not shown being physically removed, we considered that its disappearance was likely to be seen as shocking and unsettling.

    “We further considered that the statement ‘You can’t keep your baby’, in combination with the sudden disappearance of the baby, was likely to be particularly upsetting for viewers with experience of child loss or fertility issues, in particular because the parallel with dairy industry practices was revealed only in the latter half of the ad.

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  • Facebook is the most toxic social media platform for climate activists – new survey suggests

    Facebook is the most toxic social media platform for climate activists – new survey suggests

    [16th July 2025] – Facebook is the platform where most climate activists report having experienced abuse worldwide, a first ever survey today suggests.

    Global Witness commissioned the first global survey of land and environmental defenders and climate activists about their online experiences. More than 200 land and environmental defenders across six continents took part, shedding light on the chilling effect that online harms have on the climate movement.

    The survey conducted in partnership with polling company Survation reveals accounts of:

    • Widespread attacks: 92% of land and environmental defenders who responded to the survey said they have experienced some form of online abuse or harassment as a result of their work;
    • A chilling effect: 63% of the defenders who responded to the survey said they have feared for their safety while 45% reported a loss of productivity; and,
    • Online to offline harms: 75% of respondents who reported experiencing offline harms due to their activism believe that online harms directly or partly contributed to the harms they suffered offline

    Warom, a defender from the Congo Basin said:

    “Online harassment has had a significant effect on us. It has discouraged us at times and has made us feel unsafe. Our work feels very dangerous, and we have feared for our lives.”

    Jörg, a defender from Germany said:

    “They have even threatened to beat me and kill me. I have also had anonymous messages that say things like – ‘next time I see you on the road, I’m using my car to run over you’.”

    Meta operates the platforms where most defenders experienced abuse

    Asked about where the abuse and harassment were taking place online, defenders most often cited Meta-owned platforms. Three ended up amongst the top four worst offenders: Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. 82% of defenders who have suffered abuse online say that they have been abused on at least one of these three platforms. X (formerly Twitter) was the second most cited platform for abuse worldwide.

    • Facebook: 62% of respondents experienced abuse here;
    • X (formerly Twitter): 37% of respondents experienced abuse here;
    • WhatsApp: 36% of respondents experienced abuse here; and,
    • Instagram: 26% of respondents experienced abuse here.

    These results may reflect the popularity of Meta-owned platforms. Facebook alone has over 3 billion active monthly users, making it the largest social media platform globally. Defenders are calling on platforms to realise their responsibility to keep users safe. The survey found that only 12% of the defenders who reported their abuse and harassment to platforms were satisfied with the response that they received. The situation is so dire that 91% of the defenders who responded to the survey said that they believe digital platforms should do more to keep them and their communities safe.

    Fanø, a defender from Denmark said:

    “They have said things like ‘if I were there, I would run you over with my car’ or ‘this is why I have a shotgun’. I reported these threats to Facebook, who said they would investigate, but nothing seems to have happened.”

    Gendered attacks, criminalisation and polarising business models

    The survey and subsequent in-depth interviews surfaced a number of themes about the nature and impact of online abuse of land and environmental defenders, including:

    • Gendered abuse: Almost a quarter of the defenders who received online abuse say they are attacked on the basis of their sex, and almost a fifth say they are attacked on the basis of their gender identity;

    Fatrisia, a defender from Indonesia said:

    “Unidentified attackers have taken photos from my personal Instagram account and posted them on Facebook group pages with lots of followers. These posts were filled with hate speech and lies about me. […] They […] said I am rumoured to be having an affair with a fellow activist, which is [a] serious allegation in Indonesia, as I am a young, unmarried woman. I think they are trying to shame me and take away my credibility.”

    • Criminalisation: 35% of the respondents to the survey who experienced online abuse and harassment said that they had received offline threats of criminalisation, and 30% said they had actually been criminalised (e.g. arrested) for their activism;

    Sharanya, a defender from India said:

    “I think there is a relationship between what’s happening online and offline. Attackers use the online space as a means of defamation, of naming and shaming, and then use the offline space to physically threaten us and scare us, putting us under surveillance, throwing stones at our houses. They’re trying to silence us.”

    • Social media business model: Almost two-thirds of the defenders who experienced online abuse and harassment say that they believe that there are aspects of digital platforms that have exacerbated the abuse and harassment they suffered.

    When asked to give more detail about social media features that drive abuse, defenders highlighted the polarising nature of the algorithms, the lack of resourcing allocated towards moderation and complaints, platforms allowing trolls and bots to operate, and the monetisation techniques some platforms offer users.

    Calling on social media companies to do better

    Global Witness is joining defenders worldwide to demand better protections from social media platforms, in particular those owned by Meta and X. In recent years both companies have rowed back safety mechanisms in the name of ‘free speech’.

    The survey findings suggest this approach may be undermining freedom of expression of vulnerable groups, such as defenders. A survey of 468 climate scientists published by Global Witness in 2023 revealed similar patterns. 39% had experienced online harassment related to their work, with this figure rising to 49% among more established scientists.

    Ava Lee, Campaign Strategy Lead, Global Witness said:

    “The climate crisis is taking its toll on everyone on the front lines of the fight for justice. And right now, social media companies are making it harder for people to do this essential work by allowing hate and harassment to push people away from the movement.

    “It doesn’t have to be this way. By investing in safety and content moderation, rather than reducing it to curry favour with President Trump, and prioritising points of unity over division, social media companies can lay the foundations for the important discussions that need to take place so we can meet the challenges of the climate crisis head on.”

    Global Witness gave Google, Meta, TikTok and X and opportunity to comment on our main findings. Meta directed us to their Meta directed us to their Safety Center and resources on bullying and harassment prevention, which include a “Hidden Words” feature which allows users to filter offensive comments and direct messages, and a “Limits”. TikTok pointed us to their Community Guidelines on harassment and bullying and said that they do not allow harassing, degrading or bullying statements and behaviour. The others declined to comment.

    The new findings come ahead of Global Witness’s annual defenders report for 2025, which contains statistics on the killings and disappearances of land and environmental defenders worldwide for 2024, to be published in September. In 2023, at least 196 defenders were killed worldwide for protecting their land, communities or the environment, according to last year’s report.

    /ENDS

    Notes to editors:

    Photography specifically commissioned for this report is available here: Global Witness Media Hub

    A note on sampling: surveying land and environmental defenders

    Land and environmental defenders are a difficult group to reach en masse. Many such individuals have very real and immediate security concerns that require them to be highly careful about how they discuss their activism. No professional survey company has a panel of defenders you can reach out to. We therefore had to manually contact defenders’ organisations by a variety of means and do our best to ensure that we had as many people as possible from as many different places respond to our survey. We acknowledge that our survey sample is therefore not representative of all defenders. This report is the first of its kind focusing specifically on the digital threats faced by land and environmental defenders, and the role that social media platforms play in this. We have built on our existing networks to reach hundreds of defenders globally.


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