ALBAWABA - Saudia Arabia's social media users launched a campaign to boycott TikTok, a Chinese app, after accusing it of hiding the Saudi content.
The hashtag "#مقاطعة_التيك_توك, which means #BycottTiktok" was seen trending on the X platform in several Arab countries, especially in Saudi Arabia.
According to influencers and artists, TikTok is accused of "deleting" content related to the Kingdom. Emirati singer Ahlam Alshamsi was one of the first to announce boycotting the Chinese app due to its restriction on Saudi content.
In a post on her X account, where she is followed by over 8 million followers, Ahlam said: "I declare my solidarity with our people in Saudi Arabia."
The Emirati artist added: "We all should boycott TikTok. Whoever insults the Saudi government and its people insults us, and whoever does not respect our people and rulers does not deserve our respect."
Many Saudis have also requested people who join the TikTok boycott to downrate the app on the Play Store and according to some netizens, the rating of the TikTok app has decreased from 4.4 to 3.6.
In detail, social media users took to X, Facebook and Instagram to announce their boycott of TikTok, highlighting the application’s bias against Saudi content.
They added that any posts related to the Kingdom would be deleted immediately, and they accompanied these allegations with screenshots showing posts related to Saudi Arabia being deleted by TikTok.
After accusations and the boycott campaign, TikTok MENA released a statement denying allegations that it deletes Saudi content from the platform.
It posted on X: "We at TikTok are proud of our community in Saudi Arabia, which is an inspiration for creativity in various fields."
