Saudi school threatens to expel girl for posts on Snapchat

A primary school in Saudi Arabia has threatened to expel a nine-year-old girl because she uses social media platforms to post videos of herself.

Mayar Al-Shayeh posted a video online saying her school principal threatened to expel her from school if she did not stop posting the videos. The principal had not brought the matter up with the school girl’s parents.

Al-Arabiya TV reported the girl’s mother as saying that she could not believe her daughter when she first told her about the incident but was shocked when she visited the school to find out a school administrator had placed her daughter at the back of the classroom and insulted her.

Social media users commenting on the incident were divided between those who supported her talent and those who supported the school principal’s decision.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education, Mubarak Al-Osaimi, said there are education programmes which sponsor talents in the theatre, arts and sports.

Mayar has been filming comedy videos of herself and posting them on Instagram and Snapchat for about four months.

Read: Al Jazeera’s Snapchat account banned in Saudi.