Arabic anti-LGBTQ campaign goes viral on Twitter
euronews.comAn anti-LGBTQ campaign named Fetrah is making waves on social media after it urged users to promote the idea that there are only two genders, male and female.Taken from the Arabic word for "human instinct", Fetrah surfaced after International Pride Month in the Middle East.Its creation follows a number of political controversies particularly in Saudi Arabia where authorities announced a recall of all rainbow-colored toys and clothing for children in Riyadh for “promoting homosexuality”.Designed by three Egyptian marketing professionals who have experience creating marketing campaigns for start-ups, the initiative gained thousands of followers across a number of different social media platforms in a matter of weeks.Fetrah’s creators are encouraging social media users to reject homosexuality while supporters of the campaign are posting a blue and pink flag to promote the cause.Meta, the parent company for Facebook and Instagram banned Fetrah’s account on the 9th of June after the page gained over half a million likes and received Facebook’s coveted blue verification tag.However, several alternative pages for Fetrah have since surfaced on both Facebook and Instagram as social media users and news outlets continue to voice their support for the Fetrah campaign.This person for example tweeted “I support this initiative.”Fetrah’s Twitter page is still in existence and boasts over 75,000 followers.Activists say the page is continuing to gain support and that Twitter’s failure to ban accounts like this one could further marginalise the LGBTQ community in the Middle East.Mahsa Alimardani, a digital rights expert told the Cube that Twitter and other social media platforms should be investing more resources into fighting this.
