Saudi hashtag berating ‘liberal’ Jeddah triggers backlash

Does Jeddah represent Saudi Arabia? The debate has sparked an uproar on Twitter in the kingdom. An Arabic hashtag translating to “Jeddah does not represent Saudi Arabia” started as an attack on the country’s more socially liberal city. It has been used more than 41,000 times in one day.

The first apparent use of the hashtag came from @ZeHamad, who tweeted a photo of two unidentified women kissing the head of a public labourer. The tweet seemed to criticise public displays of affection between men and women, a social taboo in Saudi Arabia.