Coronavirus: Gay men outed online during lockdown live in fear in Morocco

James Rothwell12:31, Apr 28 2020
Morocco is a socially conservative country where homosexuality remains illegal and can be punished with up to three years in prison.
AP
Morocco is a socially conservative country where homosexuality remains illegal and can be punished with up to three years in prison.

Up to 100 gay men in Morocco are believed to have been outed on social media against their will, with some reportedly thrown out of their homes after their sexuality was discovered.

According to The New York Times, the men have received blackmail and violence threats after their photographs and other personal details were published online in the socially conservative North African country, where homosexuality is illegal.

In at least three cases, gay men were forced to leave their homes, even while under coronavirus lockdown.

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"Here I am just waiting for my death sentence... I'm frustrated and scared," one victim told the newspaper.

The trend began when Naoufal Moussa, an Instagram star, posted a video where she encouraged women to download same-sex dating apps so they could find out which men in their communities were gay.

Doctors report a sharp increase in the number of government officials and business leaders seeking treatment in local hospitals.

Others then collated the photographs and profiles of the men, before publishing them online to reveal their sexuality.

Facebook, which operates Instagram, said it had suspended Moussa's accounts and would remove any posts that outed gay people.

Stuff