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Outed on TikTok in Ethiopia: 'How a dance nearly cost me my life'

By Kaine Pieri,
BBC News


When a clip of two men dancing at a party in Ethiopia was posted to TikTok, it unleashed a torrent of [deleted] hatred and eventually forced one of them to flee the country.
The pair were unaware they were being filmed. The videos were initially posted to Instagram where someone took a screenshot of them to make a TikTok post that went viral.
"I didn't want to come out [as [deleted]], but social media pulled me out," Arnold, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, tells the BBC.
"Now everybody knows who I am, and my sexual identity," the 20-year-old Ethiopian student says.
[deleted] is illegal in Ethiopia and punishable by penalties that range from 10 days to three years in prison, according to the UN.


Arnold says opening up about identity or sexuality can be dangerous, with a culture of neighbours taking the law into their own hands.
His life-changing dance took place in May in the capital, Addis Ababa, at a social event, where there were crafts, poems and music for people to enjoy.
"We were drinking, having fun. We were just being ourselves," Arnold says.
It was not until two days later that he realised that videos of the evening had been posted online without his consent, initially by someone unaware of the possible dangers.
"So many people managed to see it on TikTok," he says.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67612331