Flexing on TikTok took a new turn in the UAE when authorities ordered the arrest of an ostentatious TikTok creator. Hamdan Al Rind filmed a tasteless video in a supercar dealership sporting Emirati attire and strutting with stacks of cash pulled around by assistants. The video begins with an overconfident, loud Hamdan Ring marching inside and aiming wads of money at employees for coffee. He then demands the owner to show him the most expensive car in the showroom. “I need more expensive brother, I don’t need this, my driver will drive something like this,” stated the protagonist crassly in the clip.
The influencer dubbed a stunning $599,000 Ferrari SF90 as too cheap and casually picked an Audi R8, Ferrari SF90, a Mercedes, and a Rolls-Royce like shopping for cheese. “Take money, no problem, keep the change,” he raucously and ungraciously told the dealership owner. What most would pass as a staged display of wealth to garner views on TikTok has been taken seriously by the Federal Prosecution for Combating Rumours and Electronic Crimes in the UAE. A pretrial detention has been ordered on multiple charges, including broadcasting sensational propaganda and publishing content that does not comply with prevailing standards in Emirati society.
Acting caricaturish while representing a culture is not something to be taken lightly. For the sake of clout, influencers often cross the line of decorum and respect. Back in 2020, reality TV show influencers were kicked out from the site of 1,000-year-old Mayan ruins for their ruckus and unruly behavior. In 2021 the internet was left aghast by a Florida-based fitness influencer who unabashedly posed for a photo shoot with the open casket of her father.
Amnesty International, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 10 million supporters, is rooting for the influencer Hamdan Al Rind on the pretext of a sense of humor and freedom of expression.
