Iraqi TikTok star Om Fahad shot lifeless exterior her Baghdad house


An Iraqi TikTok star recognized to her followers as Om Fahad was fatally shot in a late-night assault exterior her house in Baghdad, authorities mentioned.

A lone assailant on a bike approached Fahad, whose authorized title is Ghufran Sawadi, as she sat in a black SUV on Friday night time. He fired pictures contained in the automobile earlier than working off, in response to safety digicam footage aired by Iraqi TV.

Iraq’s Inside Ministry mentioned it arrange a staff to analyze the killing. No arrests have been made.

Fahad grew to become in style on TikTok with practically half one million followers and movies of herself dancing to Iraqi music and exhibiting her day by day life.

Final yr, the Iraqi authorities launched a marketing campaign to clear social media content material it mentioned violated “morals and traditions.”

A committee was established to scan social platforms for clips it deemed offensive. The federal government additionally created Balgh, a web based platform the place customers might report content material to be taken down.

Fahad was amongst six Iraqi content material creators final yr to obtain jail phrases starting from six months to 2 years for “offending morals and public decency.” Authorities opened investigations into eight different creators. Some had been compelled to apologize and take down their content material.

A report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based nonprofit, discovered the trial was marked by imprecise costs and had no grounds for indictment.

This isn’t the primary time a well-liked Iraqi social media content material creator has been killed.

In 2018, Tara Fares, a mannequin and Instagram creator with over 2 million followers, was shot lifeless in broad daylight in her automobile in Baghdad. No arrests had been made within the case. The Inside minister on the time accused “excessive outlaw teams” of being behind the killing.

Whereas Iraq’s structure protects freedom of expression and the press, it stipulates that such speech should “not violate public order and morals.”

TikTok is among the hottest social platforms in Iraq, utilized by practically 32 million folks, in response to the Iraqi Digital Media Middle, an unbiased monitoring group.

The platform has sparked controversy in recent times for what officers name the “disintegration of the Iraqi social material.” The Communications Ministry in March requested or not it’s banned.

Snell reported from Washington and Salim reported from Baghdad.



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