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Perambra MLA Fathima Thahiliya raised the issue of cyber harassment in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, on Wednesday, July 1, highlighting the growing misuse of social media platforms and the abuse faced by public figures, particularly women.
Speaking in the Assembly, Thahiliya said social media had reached a stage where "anyone can say anything" and had become a platform for countless anonymous users to target and abuse others. Referring to her own experience, she said she had been subjected to sustained harassment on social media.
Fathima Thahiliya, the elected representative from the Perambra constituency in Kozhikode district, is the first woman candidate fielded by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). She said that social media has increasingly become a space where anonymous users can harass individuals without accountability.
She further said that nearly everyone using social media has witnessed or experienced the platform's misuse, with online abuse becoming increasingly common.
The MLA also drew attention to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), which has made it easier to create and circulate misleading or manipulated content using photographs and other digital tools.
"We are living in the age of AI. Anyone can sit anywhere and create posts using someone's photograph. Every woman should have the freedom to speak in public and on social media without fear or intimidation," she said.
Following her speech, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan directed Thahiliya to submit the screenshots of the alleged cyber abuse that she had displayed in the House. He assured her that Assembly officials would collect the material and forward it to the cyber police for appropriate action.
Thahiliya had faced a severe wave of abusive, derogatory and communal remarks on social media after being announced as the IUML candidate from the Perambra constituency. She was also subjected to online attacks when she contested the local body elections from Kuttichira ward in the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation.
Thahiliya made history by becoming the first woman MLA from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). The 34-year-old advocate won the Perambra constituency in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections, defeating senior CPI(M) leader TP Ramakrishnan by a margin of 5,087 votes. Her candidature was widely viewed as a significant milestone for the IUML, a party that has historically offered limited opportunities to women in electoral politics. She was one of only two women candidates fielded by the party in the election.
Throughout her election campaign, Thahiliya was subjected to large-scale cyber harassment, with her social media accounts flooded with abusive, sexually explicit and communal remarks. She was also targeted over her identity as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, with many questioning her ability to serve as a legislator.
During the campaign, she told TNM that "living as a woman requires effort, and living in a hijab requires extra effort."
The article was written by a student interning with TNM.