Kanwal Ahmed makes new community after Facebook briefly deletes group

Soul Sisters Pakistan founder Kanwal Ahmed has announced the creation of a new community after the women-only group was deleted by Facebook for a short period, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

Founded in 2013, the group serves as a support collective for Pakistani women, where they discuss taboo topics and problems faced by the female population in Pakistan’s society.

The founder of the group, Kanwal Ahmed, is a women’s rights activist, entrepreneur, and host of the talk show Conservations with Kanwal.

Shortly after the group returned on Friday, she said in a post on the Meta platform: “Facebook tried to shut Soul Sisters Pakistan down for TWO whole days. And the last two days have been a NIGHTMARE for ALL of us.”

“This community I poured my heart, soul, sweat, and blood into - has become a family to 315000 women for 11 years - and has been at the forefront of women’s issues for the last decade. We have helped women get out of bad situations, advocated for each other, helped establish small businesses, raised millions for verified NGOs, and gave women the first-of-its-kind SAFE space to thrive in Pakistan,” she added.

To protect the collective from social media censorship in the future, Kanwal announced the making of a new women-only community named “Hey Soulies” on Beehiiv.

“The name of our NEW COMPANY is 'Hey Soulie', inspired by our nickname for each other. Please sign up here ASAP so I never lose you again,” she said in the Facebook post.

"The time to build a zone free from the shady policies of social media companies is NOW," she added.

Women used to share information about sex, divorce, and domestic violence in the group, considering that such topics are majorly disregarded as inappropriate to discuss publicly in the country.