FaceApp takes on Arab Twitter

The #FaceAppChallenge or #agechallenge emerged as a new trend on Twitter this weekend, with thousands downloading the viral app that alters their appearance so that they look much older or have a different hairstyle, among other settings.

Besides using the app on their own pictures, users took to uploading photos of celebrities and famous rulers and posting the results.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was one of the rulers ‘aged’ by the app:

https://twitter.com/Bader_mine/status/1149816944087846912

https://twitter.com/amanew3/status/1149463905401487360

تعيش و تحكم البلد سنين مديده 🇸🇦💚#AgeChallenge pic.twitter.com/NiGjPG8gZi

— ديمه الرشيد (@Dimah_AlRasheed) July 12, 2019

Some users also chose to ‘age’ Egyptian footballer for Liverpool FC Mohamed Salah, while managing to throw in a quick joke as well:

Moe Salah waiting to win Premier League 😂😂😂#FaceApp pic.twitter.com/ESEtmOdrzN

— 🇱🇧 (@WaelAT14) July 13, 2019

#FaceApp
فخر العرب واحد بس @MoSalah 👑 pic.twitter.com/qgiNZHKDPK

— Ⓜ️⭐S🅰️L🅰️H⭐ (@MoSalah5_82) July 13, 2019

READ: Mo Salah’s popularity is reducing anti-Muslim hate crime

Others took the opportunity to make a political statement about the brutal Israeli occupation. Twitter account @DaysOfPalestine highlighted the effect of harsh prison sentences handed to Palestinians by Israeli forces and how they can take away someone’s entire life:

https://twitter.com/DaysofPalestine/status/1150687121449132032

https://twitter.com/DaysofPalestine/status/1150690991575379968

Meanwhile, another user emphasised how Palestinian land was shrinking under Israeli rule and made a historical reference to before the 1948 Nakba when thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee their homes.

https://twitter.com/DohaElzalan/status/1150411932781940737

Not everyone is happy to go along with this trend, however. An Islamic scholar condemned the trend, arguing that it goes against the religion as it “changes God’s creation,” reports The New Arab. Essam al-Roubi, a graduate of Egypt’s top Islamic university, expressed his disappointment, telling local news website Cairo24, “This application is a type of craze that leads to undesirable consequences… Do these images really show what will happen to people? No. Only God knows that.”

READ: Israel face-recognition start-up ‘secretly tracking Palestinians’