Several prominent social media outlets funded by Masrour Barzani, including Khwakurk (337K followers), Keshay Computer (3.3M followers), and Paytext (301K followers), have consistently crossed ethical boundaries in their attacks against political rivals, particularly by targeting their spouses through culturally sensitive smear campaigns. Since October, these platforms have published multiple unsubstantiated ‘reports’ targeting the wives of political figures such as Bafel Talabani, Qubad Talabani, and more recently, opposition-turned-PUK activist Shinyar Anwar.

These attacks often leverage culturally sensitive topics to maximize reputational damage. For example, they falsely claimed that Bafel Talabani’s wife had divorced him and remarried, even naming a purported new husband to cause embarrassment – claims that were disproven by her visible presence in recent political campaigns. Similarly, they recently published allegations about Shinyar Anwar’s supposed divorce, which she has publicly refuted. The concerning aspect isn’t merely the veracity of these claims, but rather their deliberate framing to insinuate infidelity.

This pattern of targeted harassment echoes a previous incident involving Shinyar, when the Office of PM Masrour Barzani issued a statement implying an improper relationship between her and a foreign journalist – notably, after that journalist had published a factual exposé about Barzani’s extensive real estate holdings in the United States.