DUBAI: Three prominent social media influencers in the UAE are facing arrest for taking part in a dance challenge that went viral online.
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department has issued arrest warrants to the three social media personalities, who were not named, for endangering their lives and the lives of others, according to an Arabic tweet sent out by the agency.
As part of the ‘Kiki’ dance challenge, people are seen climbing out of slow-moving cars and dancing. In this case the people are seen dancing to Canadian hip-hop artist Drake’s song “In My Feelings.”
Numerous videos of the challenge have appeared online, including some coming from the Gulf region, where such actions are considered offensive to public morals and traditions.
In a statement the prosecutor’s office said the detainees will be investigated “on charges of endangering their lives and the lives of others, and violating public morals using social networking sites to promote practices that are incompatible with the values and traditions of society.”
بتهم تعريض حياة الآخرين للخطر والإخلال بالآداب العامة ومخالفة قانون السير والمرور النيابة العامة في أبوظبي تأمر بضبط وإحضار ثلاثة من مشاهير التواصل الاجتماعي على خلفية قيامهم ب" تحدي رقصة كيكي" pic.twitter.com/oCzlvFrGbg
— دائرة القضاء-أبوظبي (@ADJD_Official) July 23, 2018
Those caught carrying out the video challenge can be fined Dh2,000 fine, penalized with 23 black points and their vehicle impounded for 60 days – they could also face jail terms.
Meanwhile, people who took to the streets in Egypt for the online dance challenge face penalties over allegations they endangered lives and violated public decency, the state media reported on Tuesday.
The challenge was initiated by Instagram comedian known as the TheShiggyShow.
Videos of Egyptian celebrities, including popular goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadary, as well as actresses Dina Al-Sherbini and Yasmin Raees, went viral on the hashtag “Kiki,” now among the top trending hashtags in Egypt.
شوية هزار
No. 1 kiki pic.twitter.com/wwLQI1QzZM— Essam El-Hadary (@ElHadary) July 23, 2018
Some Egyptian dance enthusiasts went a step further, posting clips of themselves dancing to Egyptian songs. A user posted a photo of a man running alongside an overcrowded public bus, trying to catch it, with the caption reading: “We have another kiki challenge in Egypt.”
But Egyptian officials were alarmed by the dancing spree.
The state-run MENA news agency cited a warning by an unnamed Interior Ministry official as saying the “Kiki challenge” dancers could be persecuted for violating the country’s traffic law. The official didn’t elaborate.
Local media say charges under the traffic law, including endangering lives and traffic disruption, can be punished by sentences of up to a year in prison and fines of up to 3,000 Egyptian pounds or $167.
Religious officials viewed the challenge as a threat to the country’s “long entrenched values and ethics.”
“The dance, which has spread like wildfire, violates social norms and ethics,” Ahmed Al-Malki, a researcher at Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim’s foremost religious institution, told The Associated Press.
“The state has an inherent right to protect its citizens from whatever it views as harmful to them,” the religious scholar added.
