Senegalese TikTok superstar Khaby Lame gets Italian citizenship

The Senegalese influencer based in Italy Khaby Lame is the most followed man in the world on the social network TikTok.

He is here, at the Cannes Film Festival, on May 18, 2022. AFP - CHRISTOPHE SIMON

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Khaby Lame, 22, born in Senegal, has become a social media superstar, especially for his humorous silent videos.

He has been posting them since 2020 on the TikTok platform, where he now has nearly 150 million subscribers, a world record!

But, although having grown up since his earliest childhood in the Turin suburb of Chivasso, he only obtained Italian nationality on Wednesday August 17.

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With our correspondent in Rome,

Anne Le Nir

Khaby Lame declares himself very proud to have finally become an Italian citizen.

The most followed influencer in the world on TikTok has indeed lived in the north of the peninsula since the age of one year.

But, in Italy, children born to foreign parents can only begin the process of obtaining Italian nationality from the age of 18.

And the reform project, to grant land rights to minor children from a foreign family, has been blocked since the fall of the Draghi government. 

Strongly supported by the Democratic Party and its allies, this project may never see the light of day, because the right-wing and far-right coalition is at the top of the voting intentions for the legislative elections scheduled for September 25.

However, the sovereigntist parties promise to stop the migratory flows and to preserve the right of blood.  

But who knows if Khaby Lame will not take advantage of his celebrity to defend the rights of a million minors considered as foreigners when they have integrated perfectly in Italy.   

►Also read: Social networks: the Senegalese Khaby Lame, the most followed man in the world on TikTok

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