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Who is Tala Safwan? Cops arrest TikToker over 'sexually suggestive' video chat with female pal

The clip prompted a social media campaign against Safwan, with a hashtag trending on Twitter that translates to 'Tala offends society'

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA: A popular Egyptian social media influencer has been arrested in Saudi Arabia for posting sexually suggestive content. Tala Safwan drew ire online amid claims that a recent video of hers had lesbian undertones. Safwan was arrested by Saudi police in Riyadh after posting a live video chat with a friend. 

According to Al Jazeera, the police said on Monday, July 25, that they had arrested an Egyptian resident in Saudi Arabia “who appeared in a broadcast on a social media site talking to another woman with sexual content and suggestiveness that could have a negative impact on public morality”. Safwan has not been named by police but they did post a blurred version of the offending video to their Twitter account. 

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While chatting with her friend in the video, Safwan asked her female Saudi friend to come over at 3.30 am because she is lonely. Her friend says she won't come over because it is too late and Safwan reportedly says, "Even better because everyone will be asleep and they won't hear what I'll do to you," according to the same news source. She allegedly adds, "They won't hear your screams... from how much fun we'll be having." The clip prompted a social media campaign against Safwan, with a hashtag trending on Twitter that translates to “Tala offends society”.

However, Safwan said that had not been her intention. She responded by saying she'd been misunderstood and denying there was any lesbian subtext in her comments, a subject that is still publicly taboo in Saudi Arabia. She said that the clip had been taken out of context from the full video she recorded, in order to cause a scandal. Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia.

Who is Tala Safwan?

Tala Safwan has five million followers on TikTok and some 800,000 on YouTube. With her short dark hair and expressive face, the young vlogger's frothy, upbeat style is aimed at young audiences. Safwan’s content is highly popular among Arab teenagers and young adults, where she carries out pranks and challenges, and talks about TV shows. She also discusses embarrassing social situations, and uses provocative headlines to discuss relationships.

It comes just days after the Saudi media regulator demanded that YouTube remove advertisements that it considers offensive to the country's Muslim values and principles. The regulator threatened to take legal action if nothing was done. The announcement followed complaints by Saudi parents that their children were being exposed to inappropriate content in ads broadcast on YouTube. 

In 2019, a 23-year old gay social media personality, Suhail al-Jameel, was reportedly arrested after wearing shorts to the beach in Riyadh, according to Pink News. “In 2019 LGBTQ are not welcome in Saudi Arabia, you must live in secret and can’t live in peace. You want tourism but you won’t give us freedoms,” he wrote on Twitter.