Users: Bahraini society is conservative in its nature and is known for its originality and high morals: the absence of censorship on “communication” makes it a starting point for practices that harm societal values. Users: Bahraini society is conservative in nature and is known for its originality and high morals
Recently, a phenomenon has emerged through social media platforms, especially “Tech Talk”, where some users capture the attention of the audience through inappropriate challenges with norms, some of which amount to exposure to human dignity, where the primary motivation often comes to interact and extreme observations, which may cause direct material gains or financial support from followers, and sometimes gifts during the live broadcast.
This phenomenon reflects a crisis in the balance between freedom of expression and the danger of inappropriate content and that violates customs and traditions.
The positions of the Bahraini authorities
The security authorities confirmed that they are not tolerated with any transgression of public morals, especially when it is embodied in a live broadcast, as a person appeared while entering his head in a toilet during a broadcast on Tek Tok, in an incident that caused widespread criticism, and was considered contrary to public taste.
The Electronic Crime Administration also announced that several people have been arrested in similar cases related to publishing offensive and inappropriate content through the media, and that the investigation is still underway in many of these cases.
Freedom of expression does not mean bypassing the limits of public taste and societal values
Lawyer Farid Ghazi stressed that the Kingdom of Bahrain adheres to the freedom of opinion and expression within the framework of the law, stressing the need to adhere to the laws that protect the principles, customs and traditions of Bahraini society and Islamic and moral principles, explaining that the transgression of these laws, especially with regard to public taste and morals, is not considered freedom of expression, but rather a clear violation of the social and legal system.
Ghazi pointed out that social media today represents a wide segment of society, the most important of which are young and children, and therefore directly affects their origins and the formation of their awareness, warning of the seriousness of these means in the absence of effective control by the state and family agencies, which makes them a starting point for practices that may harm societal values.
He explained that these actions greatly affect the category of children before young people, as the content published on these platforms leads to tradition and cultivating false concepts and principles in society, stressing that local laws, such as the Penal Code and the Law of misuse of social media, criminalizes such unethical practices that are incompatible with societal customs and traditions.
Ghazi warned that this phenomenon is not only local, but rather a global phenomenon, as such actions are intentionally occurring with the aim of obtaining “trend” or rapid spread on the Internet, with the vicinity in violation of public taste.
He pointed out that the responsibility has become common between the relevant government agencies and the family, in addition to the role of mosques, funerals and civil society associations, in reducing these unethical practices, which contradict the values of conservative Islamic societies.
The negative impact on Bahraini customs and traditions
Bahrain, for decades, is known for its people’s adherence to public taste and respect for others in the public and private field, but the spread of such challenges weakens this image, and gives a false impression on followers from outside the country about the nature of Bahraini society.
Also, the recurrence of these actions may lead to their normalization in the minds of some groups, so that they become familiar or acceptable over time, which poses a threat to the social fabric.
The danger of this phenomenon increases with the ease of its spread and the speed of its circulation through smartphones, where anyone at any time can see these clips, which doubles its negative impact on public values, and makes it necessary to address them with societal awareness and joint regulatory and legal efforts.
Ironing impact on the emerging generation
Recent official statistics in the Kingdom of Bahrain indicate that almost a third of the Bahraini population are young people between the ages of 15 and 35 years, with a rate of 33%, as the number of Bahraini youth and children under 35 is about 452,625 people, which constitutes about 62% of the total population, which reflects the youth density of Bahraini society.
This population composition makes young people and children the most interactive and influenced by the content shown through social media platforms, such as Teak -Tok, which has become an integral part of their daily lives, and therefore, the spread of unethical challenges and contrary to public morals on these platforms constitute a real threat to create this important group of society.
The exposure of young people, who constitute a large percentage of the population, to inappropriate content that creates a wrong perception of ways to achieve fame or success, and tempts them to imitate what they see, which leads to implanting false concepts and principles that may harm their psychological and social health, and keep them away from the values and traditions that Bahraini society grew up.
These large numbers also emphasize the importance of family and community control over the use of social media, in addition to the legal tightening by the competent authorities, to ensure the protection of young people from slipping into actions that may lead to a deterioration of social and cultural values.
Thus, Bahraini youth constitute more than half of society, and this requires integrated efforts from the family, the school, and governmental and societal institutions, to contain the impact of immoral content and protect them from the risks of negative tradition, ensuring the continued consolidation of identity and authentic national values.
The number of “Tik Talk” users in Bahrain and its impact on the spread of these practices
The official data issued by the “DatarePortal” platform indicate that the number of users of the “Tech Tok” application in the Kingdom of Bahrain exceeded 1.19 million users over the age of 18 years in early 2025, as this large number comes to reflect the increasing popularity of the platform between the various categories of Bahraini society, which makes it an impressive environment in which ideas and behaviors spread at a tremendous speed.
These numbers come to highlight the size of the audience that is seen and interacts with the content published on “Tech Tok”, including the challenges that may be inappropriate or violating societal values, and therefore, the increase in the number of users increases the urgent need for effective control and continuous awareness that protects society, especially young groups, from negatively affected by these digital phenomena.
Supporting behaviors
Sarah Ahmed, a university student, confirmed that these practices are a direct abuse of the values and customs of society, noting that it is unfortunate that some reach this level just to obtain views or sums of money.
She stressed that the Bahraini society is known for its origin and high morals, and these actions are extraneous to it, and it has no connection with it, adding that young people should invest their time in a purposeful content that raises their intellectual and cultural level instead of preoccupation with what harms their image and reputation.
As for Muhammad Issa, he said: “We live in a conservative society with its values and customs, and it is unfortunate that some take advantage of the electronic platforms to display behaviors that violate these values.”
Muhammad stressed that the existence of deterrent laws is necessary, but the most important thing is the awareness and responsibility of the individual towards himself and his society.
In turn, Khaled Jassim, a father of three children, pointed to his great fears of the impact of these challenges on young people, explaining: “My children use phones and browse these applications, and I am afraid that they will think that these practices are normal or an acceptable means of drawing attention, and we, as parents, play a great role in education, but when such contents come, and they are exposed to them repeatedly, they threaten what we try to implant Values and ethics.
Khaled stressed the necessity of the cooperation of society, the family and the official bodies to protect the new generations from drifting behind offensive content.
