The crossing of an influencer with migrants in the Mediterranean is controversial

The videos are from December. A 21-year-old Tunisian influencer films herself with her fiancé in a migrant boat. Leaving Tunisia, they are heading for Italy. “The fear was extraordinary, the sea was really rough. In the boat, we all said a prayer and prepared ourselves for death”, says Chaima Ben Mahmoud. The initiative shocked.

With more than 2,000 missing in the Mediterranean last year, some saw it as the normalization of a tragedy. “Social networks demystify travel”, says Matt Herbert, researcher. If some denounce an incitement to the crossing, others praise the courage of the young woman, who relays the distress of part of African youth. Once in Europe, the influencer posted many photos. Experts fear the effect of truncated images of the Old Continent sent to its two million subscribers.