Victim of harassment chronicles the effects of online abuse

Alia Dastagir says the toll on her body from all the abuse was unbearable. (Image: @aliadastagir)

Sun, 02 Mar 2025

By Martine PowersWhen Alia Dastagir became the target of an online mob, a thought gripped her: What if the harassment never stopped? Could she survive it?It was early 2022, and Dastagir, a USA Today reporter at the time, had just published a deeply reported piece profiling a victim of childhood sexual trauma. The story was a point of pride for Dastagir. But within a day of it being published, her reporting had been taken out of context and shared widely on social media. Trolls, QAnon followers and even Donald Trump Jnr accused he...

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