Morocco’s LGBTQ community faces death threats after online outing

Moroccan women have been urged to pose as men on gay dating apps to expose family members and their sexual identities. It snowballed into a hate campaign. Why did a gay Instagram influencer tell them to do it?

Members of Morocco’s LGBTQ community say they fear for their lives after a prominent social media influencer sparked an online campaign to reveal their identities.

On April 13, Sofia Talouni, a gay Instagram personality also known as Naoufal Moussa, told her 600,000 followers to set up fake accounts on dating apps like Grindr and Planet Romeo to geolocate and identify gay family members, advocacy organisations KifKif and Nassiwiyat reported, according to DW.com.