Khabane Lame, 22, who has the highest number of followers on TikTok, a famous social media application, stated in an interview that he still has not received citizenship despite living in Italy for 21 years.
The complaint of the Italian social media phenomenon of Senegalese origin has brought up discussions about the citizenship rights of foreigners through his recent interview.
During the interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Lame said that although he has lived and studied in Italy for about 21 years, he still cannot obtain citizenship due to Italy's strict citizenship laws.
“It is not fair that someone who has lived and grown up in Italian culture for all these years still does not have the right to be a citizen. I've been waiting for 20 years to be Italian," he said to the reporter.
After his words, Italian Assembly Member Carlo Sibilia shared a message on Twitter stating that Lame's citizenship application was accepted and that he could soon receive Italian citizenship with an oath ceremony.
However, the assembly member's statement caused millions of social media followers to comment that Lame was given special treatment because he has millions of followers. Yet, Lame emphasized that he does not want only his problem to be solved, but that the citizenship laws that concern about 1 million children and young people in Italy should be changed.
According to the current laws in Italy, children born in Italy can acquire citizenship only if one of the parents is Italian. Children with both foreign parents can apply for citizenship only after they turn 18, but the waiting period after this application generally leads to complaints.
According to the New York Post's announcement, the phenomenon has approximately 143 million followers on TikTok.
Yet, the American newspaper was accused of racism and discrimination because of their headline not using Lame's name on the headline that is "Laid-off factory worker unseats Charli D'Amelio as top TikTok star with 142.8M fans."
The newspaper later apologized for the way it shared the news.
Senegalese Lame, also known as the "silent comedian," makes sketches that mock TikTok videos showing simple things being done in complex ways.
Lame, who worked in a factory in Italy but opened a TikTok account when he was unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic, uses only gestures and facial expressions in his videos without speaking.
Lame became the second TikTok user to surpass 100 million subscribers in September 2021.
