Newsweek announced Tuesday that the magazine is considering ending its licensing agreement with its Pakistani affiliate after a controversial tweet about child sex from the publication's editor.
Newsweek Pakistan's Fasih Ahmed went on an extended rant after the arrest of a Pakistani serial killer for the rape and murder of seven-year-old girl Zainab Ansari.
"The sexual abuse of children will always exist. You can never eliminate it. Sometimes it leads to great art. So there's also that," Ahmed tweeted.
When Twitter users responded with outrage, Ahmed insisted that the people who were expressing anger at the death of Ansari were hypocrites who would eventually ignore child sex. He then sent nasty tweets at those who attacked him.
The outrage won’t last because people are assholes. Child molestation was ok before MeToo and it will be ok again. We’ll pretend it doesn’t happen. I don’t think I was being subtle about it
— Fasih Ahmed (@therealfasih) January 23, 2018
Child sexual abuse has always happened, is happening, and will always continue. Two days of outrage on Twitter and participating in a 10-person vigil may make you feel so noble but that’s all just about you, not those who’ve been victimized
— Fasih Ahmed (@therealfasih) January 23, 2018
Ahmed apologized eventually and deleted the bulk of his tweets, but not before Newsweek announced that it had nothing to do with his comments and was looking at ending the publication's relationship with its Pakistan edition entirely.
Recent tweets by Newsweek Pakistan editor @therealfasih do not represent the views of @Newsweek. We are reviewing our relationship with @NewsweekPak, which operates under a license agreement.
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 24, 2018