In Iraq, the role of social media influencers has broadened from promoting beauty products and clothing to government projects and programs. Official government invitations classify these influencers as key business figures at sports, security and cultural gatherings.

Videos featuring a prominent influencer during the 93rd anniversary on Thursday of the Iraqi air force’s founding sparked a backlash, with many criticising the Ministry of Defence for allowing them to record and publish videos from sensitive military sites. The ministry defended itself, saying that in the era of social media, like defence ministries worldwide, it uses influencers alongside traditional media to communicate with the public.

Separately on Saturday, the Iraqi parliament passed an amendment to the country’s prostitution law – widely criticised by human rights groups – that would punish same-sex relations with a prison term ranging from 10 to 15 years. A previous version of the law would have imposed the death penalty.

The law also bans any organisation that promotes “sexual deviancy”, imposing a sentence of at least seven years and a fine of no less than 10 million dinars (about $11,500).

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The acting parliamentary speaker, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, said in a statement that the vote was “a necessary step to protect the value structure of society” and to “protect our children from calls for moral depravity and homosexuality.”

Rasha Younes, a senior researcher with the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, said the law’s passage “rubber-stamps Iraq’s appalling record of rights violations against LGBT people and is a serious blow to fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination”.

A report released by the organisation in 2022 accused armed groups in Iraq of abducting, raping, torturing, and killing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people with impunity and the Iraqi government of failing to hold perpetrators accountable.

AP