Iraq Government jails TikTokers for 'decadent content' Read more at straitstimes.com.
BAGHDAD – Dancing to Iraqi pop made TikTok personality Om Fahad a hit among tens of thousands of followers, but now she is in prison, caught up in a state campaign targeting “decadent content”.
A specialised committee now scours TikTok, YouTube and other popular platforms for clips deemed offensive by many in the largely conservative and patriarchal society. An investigative judge in the southern city of Amarah recently dealt with the cases of four minor social media celebrities accused of “offending public morals and indecent exposure”, said the judiciary’s Supreme Council.Among the four, who have since been released, was Mr Aboud Skeeba, with over 160,000 TikTok followers and known for humorous videos in which he makes incomprehensible remarks employing a pseudo-American accent.
The Iraqi state bases its campaign on penal code articles “with vague and elastic terminology, such as public morals and indecent exposure”, said Mr Mustafa Saadun, of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights. Mr Saadun – who said he “can’t stand” popular YouTubers and TikTokers – nonetheless deplored the campaign against them. He said the authorities should instead “flex their muscles and punish those who publish fake news and hate speech”.The rights activist said he fears the government is now “taking the pulse” of society “before moving on to a more dangerous stage – to hold accountable all those who criticise state institutions and politicians”.
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