TikTok star booked over forest fire video

Climate change minister takes notice of dangerous trend of 'glamorizing' bushfires

ISLAMABAD:

A case was lodged against social media celebrity Dolly for deliberately setting a strip of land in Margalla Hills ablaze for one of her videos.

The TikTok star had stirred controversy when she posted a viral clip of herself walking playfully in front of a burning hillside with the caption: “Fire erupts wherever I am.” The video has since been taken down.

According to a first information report (FIR) filed at the Kohsar Police Station, an assistant director of the CDA told the police that a video is viral on TikTok in which a TikToker named Dolly can be seen recording a video after setting the forest on fire.

The case has been filed against the Tiktoker for defying the environmental protection laws under Environmental Protection Act 1997.

“The area is part of Margalla Hills National Park which has reported multiple incidents of wildfires recently which damaged the ecosystem,” it said.

Dolly, whose real name is HumairaAsghar, came under fire on social media for “madness” and “ignorant pursuit of fame” with people pointing out that the video had come at a time when a heatwave - a severe consequence of climate change - was baking the country.

'Dangerous trend'

Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman also took strong notice of the incident, condemning the trend of “glamorising bushfires as vanity backdrops for fashion photoshoots”.

It is pertinent to note that the latest incident of forest fire comes after police arrested a man earlier this month in the northwestern city of Abbottabad for intentionally starting a forest fire as a background for a video.

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However, contrary to the reports doing rounds on social media, the incident involving the Toktok star Dolly took place at the Hazara Motorway.

Charing a meeting on Wednesday, the federal minister issued directives for setting up a control room jointly run by IWMB and the CDA for heightened vigilance at the Margalla park area for the entire fire season which usually lasts from April to June.

Tiktok takes notice

Meanwhile, video-sharing application TikTok said that any content that promotes "dangerous" or "illegal" behaviour was a violation of its community guidelines after the social media celebrity faced a severe backlash.

In a statement issued a day after the video was posted, the spokesperson of TikTok said that the application was working to "remove, limit or label content that depicts dangerous or illegal acts".

"We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and encourage everyone to exercise caution and responsibility in their behaviour whether online or off," he added