Is Tiktok liberalizing conservative Somalia?

After years of civil war and continued efforts by extremist organizations to limit Somalia’s path to its past liberal social setting, a social media application is changing the existing social norms of Somalis across Somalia, and among those in the diaspora.

Majority of Somalis, especially those in the capital have embarrassed the use of this application to portray that which they would have not done in public, due to the restrictions from extremists organizations and radical Somalis.

Somalia was one of the most liberal countries in the continent until the 1990’s when the society was infiltrated by the Wahabi sect of Islam,a conservative Islamic creed centered in and emanating from Saudi Arabia .

The memory of the past offers hope for the future and that is what Tiktok is doing.

Girls who didn’t have the chance to dance to their favourite tunes now have the opportunity to do that, without being subjected to any form of discrimination or punishment.

I personally signed up for the platform, and what I saw encouraged me to write down this piece.

Beautiful Somali girls with no fear of retribution dance, sing, show their beautiful long hair, with their smile radiating with warmth and sparkling eyes using the platform just as their peers would do during their time on the streets of Mogadishu before the civil war.

After doing an extensive research, my findings show that the dynamism of family values and the way Somali Muslims are socialising online is to an extent a combination of freedom and control.

Most of the users, majority female will tend to cover their face and instead show part of their sexy body. They would really want to show their faces proudly, however the role of family values in shaping the present experiences and future aspirations of adolescent Somali Muslim girls obscures their desire.

In the 70s and 80s, before Somalia was torn apart by civil war, the east African country had a vibrant pop music culture; bars and clubs flourished in Mogadishu and Hargeisa.

Over the years, the Shabab, a militant group in East Africa that has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, has banned music, cinemas, satellite dishes and humanitarian organizations.

Tiktok is now a blessing to many young people, who want to enjoy their life as any teenager would want anywhere around the world.

Tiktok use in Somalia is now a testimony of the zeal and determination of young people who aspire to remove themselves from the webs created by a group of Gods volunteer policemen, acting the same way a spider creates a cobweb out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.

The advancement of technology and how it is transforming perceived conservative communities to liberalism is an area academics can research on. It validates the true needs of human beings, who will thrive to advance human development even under the zealous efforts of extremist societies.

Technology is now a true testimony of how human development can not be restricted going forward, even with the emergence of new sects.

Somalia has for long been regarded as one of the most uncivil countries, alongside many other African and Islamic countries. Tiktok is proving that with the avenue, teenagers and young Somalis are ready for the path to the lost liberal Somalia.

With slightest stability in the country, Somalia’s conjured images of war, political collapse, and piracy will be replaced by bell-bottoms, rocking nightlife, and funky grooves.

Somalia’s musical and liberal path did not survive, but teenegers are now reviving it with the aid of technology, through the memories of elders who survived to tell the story of Somalia’s lost glory. Slowly, but surely, it is being brought back to life.

Yunis Dekow is a former journalist and a communication strategist based in Somalia.

The ideas, conclusions, and recommendations of an opinion article in Somaliland.com are solely those of its author(s) and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other staff.