Harmful Representations & Digital Threats to Kalasha Community: A YouTube Search Metadata Analysis

Abstract

The only surviving non-Muslim indigenous population of Pakistan, the Kalasha community, the inhabitants of Kalasha valleys of Chitral district. Beyond the well documented demographic, linguistic, and religious threats faced by the community, a new kind of threat has emerged in modern times i.e., the digital domain. Fieldwork conducted in Bumburet village of Kalash valley in October 2025 revealed that Kalasha residents, and women in particular, are not only aware that tourists and content creators routinely publish disrespectful material about them on YouTube but are highly threatened by the misrepresentation. A systematic content analysis of 391 YouTube thumbnails returned for the query “Kalasha Valley” revealed that 52.9 percent of the overall sample carried HIGH and MEDIUM threat indicators, with women featured in almost every thumbnail. The quantitative results of the complete data set shows that a sexualized thumbnail enhances median views of video by ~5.6x while a derogatory title lifts them only by ~1.92x. Six recurring harmful framings were identified through Qualitative analysis which includes voyeuristic potential, elopement, religious othering, female objectification, commodification, and pervert sexualisation. These patterns raise urgent scholarly questions about how digital platforms mediate the identity, safety, and narrative sovereignty of an already endangered indigenous community.