What is happening? Afghanistan is exporting body slavery (bacha bazi) to TikTok…
Nothing prepares one for these scenes. No warning, no explanation, no context. Just young boys, dancing, applying makeup, swaying their bodies, and practicing seduction in public.
At first glance, those watching these fleeting clips on TikTok may assume they are individual attempts at self-expression, play, or even liberation. But the truth is far more horrific.
These videos have proliferated alarmingly in recent months, and a closer look reveals that their geographical and cultural origins point to Afghanistan.
The faces, language, places, and rhythms all lead us back to a country burdened with a painful history of child male slavery in what was known as “bacha bazi”; a filthy, age-old practice where children are forced to dance before adult men and are exploited physically under the guise of loyalty and power.
Bacha bazi refers to exploitative practices targeting children, where young boys are forced to participate in dances or special events often held in private settings before older men, where they are physically and sexually exploited. This phenomenon is prevalent in certain countries like Afghanistan and Iran, where children are exploited by individuals from high social classes, including men of authority and generals. Many of the children pushed into these practices come from impoverished families, compelled into this situation for money or to improve their living conditions.
Today, the same tragedy is being recycled, but in a digital language. The same body, the same dance, the same complicity, now visible to the world.
From Afghanistan… to every mobile phone. From secret alleys… to TikTok’s front page.
Under the guise of “trending,” teenagers are showcased, their presence polished, their daring rewarded, and an audience applauds without questioning: Who are these individuals? Who is behind them? Who funds them? And why this widespread reach?
In many of these clips, older men appear alongside these boys. No one asks about the nature of their relationship. No one dares to speak about exploitation, seduction, money, or the sexual use masked beneath the content.
We are facing a new form of slavery, utilizing modern tools, and hiding behind a smile, a visual effect, and a trivial filter.
What is occurring is not an artistic phenomenon, nor an expression of identity, nor even a cultural opening. What is happening is a global normalization of practices that were criminalized yesterday, now presented as a watchable and rewarding product.
What is happening is that we are unwittingly consuming – or silently witnessing – what threatens the essence of humanity, distorts the concept of freedom, and turns the body into a platform for display, rather than for voice, thought, or dignity.
We need to ask ourselves, as an international community:
How did this content reach our screens?
Who is behind the orchestration of this deceptive industry?
And why is a tragic Afghan model being recycled in an open digital space for all?
Where is the responsibility of the platforms? And where are we in protecting our children and teenagers from this insidious infiltration?
It is time for a courageous discussion, not just about TikTok, but about the meaning of the body in a market-driven age, the meaning of freedom in a time of exploitation, and the meaning of education in an era defined by platforms.
