Wen one video of two men dancing for one party for Ethiopia show for TikTok, e cause heavy homophobic hatred and eventually force one of dem to run comot from di kontri.
Di two bin no know say dem dey feem dem.
Na for Instagram dem first post di video. Na dia pesin take screenhoot of dem make TikTok post wey go viral.
“I bin no wan come out [as gay], but social media pull me out,” Arnold, wey we change im name to protect im identity, tell BBC.
“Now everybody know who I be, and my sexual identity,” di 20-year-old Ethiopian student tok.
Homosexuality dey illegal for Ethiopia and punishable by penalties wey include from 10 days to three years in prison, according to UN.
Arnold say opening up about identity or sexuality fit dey dangerous, wit culture of neighbours taking law into dia own hands.
Im life-changing dance occur for May for di kontri capital, Addis Ababa, for one social event, wia dem do crafts, poems and music for pipo to enjoy.
“We bin dey drink, enjoy oursef. We bin just be oursef,” Arnold tok.
No be until two days later na im e realise say videos of dat evening don land online witout im consent, first by pesin wey bin no understand di possible dangers.
“So many pipo manage see am on TikTok,” e add.
“Fear catch me no be small and I bin feel threatened.”
True true, few days later, dem attack Arnold as im dey im lunch break: “Wen I leave di restaurant one group of men come meet me say dem see me for dat video and tell me make I confess say I dey lie say I dey straight.
“Dem be 12 pipo wey surround me. Den two of dem start to beat me, I manage to run away but dem catch me again and match my face and break my cheekbone.”
Im hope say di situation go calm down over time, but again for July, dem post anoda TikTok video wey gada hundreds of thousands of views.
E get one slideshow wit photo of pipo from di party, including Arnold, wit di title: “Dis na gay pipo wey dey live freely for Ethiopia.”
E feel like dem set fire wey no fit quench: “E blow, dem specifically try find out my name and my address.
“I bin dey all over social media. I run away from home. Dem be di days wey I fear pass for life, dem for 100% kill me if to say dem find me.”
One month later, Addis Ababa Peace and Security Office announce say dem dey fight same-sex sexual activities for hotels and bars and dem open one hotline, tell pipo make dem report wetin dem call “abominable acts”.
Affta hiding for one friend place, dem put Arnold in touch wit one group of five Europe-based Ethiopia queer volunteers.
Dem sabi dem as House of Guramayle, dem dey work to secure funds and safe passage for LGBTQ+ pipo to leave Ethiopia and help Arnold run from di kontri.
Di volunteeers bin be di first to notice di trend of TikTok videos wey dey harass pipo and doxxing – dat is dem dey leak dia personal information online.
Faris Cuchi Gezahegn, wey dey use “dey” and “dem” as personal pronouns and co-founder of House of Guramayle, say Arnold experience wia dem drag am out for social media na sometin wey many queer Africans fit relate to.
“Coming out for us, most of di time no be choice,” Gezahegn tok from dia apartment for Vienna.
Dem run go Austria afta dia pro-LGBT+ activism put dia life in danger.
Di activist compile 110 TikTok videos wey dem don delete now, including di ones wey drag Arnold.
Some show as dem dey beat pipo, kic and punch dem for public.
Odas contain foto of pipo, e dey ask for dia names and addess for di comments.
For one, one popular evangelical Christian pastor dey tell pipo to naked plus flog any LGBTQ+ pesin wey dem see for public.
Dis videos bin dey for TikTok for weeks before dem delete dem, during dat time dem don get hundreds of thousands of views.
“One of di major issues na say majority of dis content dem produce and write dem for our local language, wey be Amharic and also sometimes Afaan Oromoo and Tigrinya,” Gezahegn tok, as im dey explain why e take long to identify and remove di cotent.
House of Guramayle dey now work wit di social media company to flag videos wey dey call for violence against LGBTQ+ pipo for dis languages.
But witout pro-active restructuring of di way dem dey monitor content, na only a mata of time before more videos go show, Gezahegn tok.
TikTok no gree do interview for dis article but refer BBC go dia community guidelines:
“We dey committed to seeing say our policies and practices dey fair and equitable, dat na why we partner wit global organisations to consult wit dem wen we dey create new policies, update di ones wey already dey exist and build new safety features wey fit benefit our LGBTQ+ community members.”
Dis issue wit TikTok no be only for Ethiopia.
Celia, one Uganda lesbian wey also beg make dem change her name to protect her, say she bin face di same experiences.
Same-sex relations don dey illegal for Uganda since dem get independence for 1962.
But dis year, di goment add more harsh anti-gay laws – now anyone wey dem find guilty of engaging in homosexual acts dey face life imprisonment and di death penalty for cases of “aggravated homosexuality”, wey fit involve sex wit children or vulnerable pipo.
Afta one of im neighbour for di kontri capital, Kampala, report am, Celia say she and her girlfriend chop arrest: “Dem [di police] tell me: ‘If we find out say you be gay, you go chill for prison for 20 years.'”
Di couple spend two days for jail.
Di official arrest document say dem hold for di suspected possession of narcotics.
“Dat na wetin dem put [for my file] to release me, because dem no get evidence say I be gay or lesbian,” Celia tok.
Following dia arrest, di couple, wey be active TikTok users, receive abuse and threats to name and drag dem out wen dem post for di platform.
Fearing for di safety, dem fly go Kenya for March.
Wit TikTok growing popularity for Africa, many kontris around di continent don dey for dem to moderate or censor content.
For August, both Senegal and Somalia take di decision to ban di social media app.
For Senegal na mainly on political grounds, wia di opposition dey use am to organise protests.
Somali authorities say na terror groups and odas wey “responsible for spreading immorality” dey use.
For socially conservative Kenya, one businessman petition parliament for August asking di MPs make dem outlaw TikTok, warning say some content fit be “serious threat to di cultural and religious values of Kenya”.
Dis mata provoke Kenya content creators to pushback plus ask make dem implement regulatory frameworks instead of total ban.
For September dis year Kenya President William Ruto speak to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to establish different kains of restrictions.
“Dem go remove inappropriate or offensive content from di platform,” President Ruto office tok afta one virtual meeting.
Even though say pipo dey use TikTok drag out and harass members of di LGBTQ+ community, di pipo wey e dey affect no necessarily want make dem ban am.
“We dey face a lot of problems here but I tink TikTok go be good platform to just teach oda pipo who we be; say we no wan harm anybody,” Celia tok.
“We be just human beings.”
Arnold agree. Im hope say one day im go return home to Ethiopia and e dey try to use im experience in a positive way.
“I want to study psychology and human rights because e dey inspire me to help my community,” im tok.
“I no want anyone to go through wetin I go through.”
