BAGHDAD, Iraq: An assailant on a motorbike shot dead a well-known Iraqi social media influencer outside her Baghad home Friday, Iraqi security officials said.
An unidentified gunman shot Om Fahad in her car in the Zayouna district, said a security official on condition of anonymity.
Another source in the security establishment said the attacker appeared to have pretended to be making a food delivery.
Om Fahad earned fame for light-hearted TikTok videos of herself dancing to Iraqi music while wearing tight-fitting clothes.
In February 2023, a country court sentenced her to six months in prison for sharing “videos containing indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
Last year, the Iraqi government launched a campaign to clean up social media content that it said breached nation’s “morals and traditions”.
A committee was established in the interior ministry to clean TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms for clips it deemed offensive.
Several influencers have since been arrested.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion to overthrew president Saddam Hussein, the country has returned to a semblance of normality.
But civil liberties — for women, sexual minorities and other groups — remain limited in the conservative society.
In 2018, model and influencer Tara Fares was also shot dead by gunmen in capital Baghdad.
