Nighat Dad
The Human Rights Tulip is an annual prize awarded by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to human rights defenders who take an innovative approach to promoting human rights.
Nighat Dad is a lawyer who used to practice criminal and family law, and in 2012 she set up the Digital Rights Foundation. The not-for-profit organisation educates Pakistanis, particularly young women, about how to respond to online harassment, and also campaigns against legislation that gives the government broad powers of surveillance online, and the dissemination of personal information collected by telecom firms regarding customers’ lives and habits to foreign and domestic state agencies and businesses.
With the increasing regulation of the Internet by the government of Pakistan and its banning of YouTube, people began to realize how important digital rights are in the country.
