Travel content is one of my favourite reasons to use TikTok: it’s holiday inspo, beach recommendations, and food tours. However, one influencer is facing a lot of backlash after posting a series of videos of her time solo travelling in Afghanistan.
Margaritta, a 33-year-old German travel influencer, took a three-month solo trip in May 2024 to Taliban-run Afghanistan.
With over 18,000 followers on TikTok (@margarittasworld), she told NBC News that she was “not scared” and “treated like a queen” during her time there.
Margaritta is part of a small but growing number of travel influencers capturing life in Afghanistan after the 2021 Taliban takeover. These creators share scenic footage of the country’s rugged landscapes and centuries-old culture, often with the aim of challenging global narratives about safety and gender oppression. But while their content fascinates followers, it has sparked sharp criticism for what some call a dangerous oversimplification, or even glamorisation, of life under authoritarian rule.
Influencers in a conflict zone
Margaritta has praised the Afghan way of life and has argued she felt safe and even powerful as a woman. The UK government currently strongly advises against any travel to Afghanistan and has especially stressed the risk to female travellers:
“Since August 2021, the Taliban have gradually restricted women’s social and political rights and limited the areas of public life they can engage in. Women and girls are subject to widespread and systematic discrimination, which in general amounts to persecution. For example, the enforcement of the mahram (male chaperone) rule has restricted freedom of movement, whereas a series of edicts (and the way they are enforced) has prevented women from accessing education and employment, amongst other things.”
Margaritta, while acknowledging the Taliban’s strict control over women’s lives, controversially framed these rules as a sign of value. In one TikTok, she stated that women were the “womb carriers,” which means “any excellence a man demonstrates, he got from a woman near him.”
@margarittasworld They weren’t voiceless. They were powerful in a way most never learn to see. Afghanistan changed me. This is for the women behind the veil. I love you. #femininefrequency #afghanistan #spiritwalker #presenceispower #womenoflight #veilwisdom #margarittasworld #afghan #kabul #fyp #foryou #travel #natgeo
♬ Kulning - Calling the Spring - Jonna Jinton
The ethical debate has intensified as influencer and tourism content is increasingly reshared by Taliban-linked social media accounts in an apparent bid to rebuild the nation’s image and attract foreign visitors. In 2024 alone, nearly 9,000 foreigners visited Afghanistan, with tourism numbers continuing to grow despite the country's complex realities.
Do influencers have a moral obligation to show both sides?
As influencer marketing grows more global, the industry must reckon with the ethical implications of promoting destinations with deep political and human rights challenges.
While travel stories are a powerful tool for connection and understanding, it can also be dangerous, especially when creators fail to contextualise their privilege, or platform the voices of locals living the consequences of the regimes being overlooked.
Orzala Nemat, Afghan activist and scholar, told NBC that she has deep concerns about the way Margaritta presents Afghan women in her TikTok videos: “Just because you see a woman smiling in the background of a video doesn’t mean she is free. That smile is not consent to the system controlling her.”
Brands aren’t getting involved
It’s evident that brands are choosing not to get involved in partnerships with these types of creators, even when there’s a lot of publicity around them.
Nolan Saumure, a travel vlogger with over 700,00 subscribers on YouTube, filmed his time in Afghanistan as well as other dangerous countries for his channel. A YouTuber of that size should be getting a few brand deals. Yet, despite his name-dropping of VPNs, equipment and travel booking sites, he does not appear to have any publicly disclosed on his channel.
It’s interesting that brands have chosen against working with him, as well as Margaritta and other creators like Zoe Stephens, who make similar content.
The absence of brands despite the publicity should tell creators a lot about how their content is being perceived by these companies.
