Yas Naubelle, a French-Algerian social media influencer and beauty brand owner, was detained on Saturday at Marrakech-Menara Airport in Morocco just before boarding a flight back to France. Her arrest followed a TikTok video she posted during her holiday in which she criticized local drivers and Morocco’s traffic police.
According to reports cited by the Daily Mail, which relied in part on Moroccan and Algerian media, authorities suspect Naubelle of spreading "defamatory digital content" against citizens and harming a public institution. After the video circulated, an investigation was opened and an alert was issued to locate her. When she arrived at the airport in Marrakech for her return trip, she was stopped and taken in for questioning.
Naubelle, 30, who has tens of thousands of followers on social media, is still being held in Morocco, and it has not yet been reported whether formal charges have been filed. The now-deleted video showed her describing Marrakech roads as dangerous and chaotic, saying, "I have never seen people drive like that. Cars, scooters without helmets with children on them, and sudden lane changes." She also compared the situation with Algeria, where she said it was "less bad."
In another part of the video, she accused local traffic police of stopping women drivers "for nothing" and implied the stops were meant to extract bribes. Moroccan media said the authorities viewed the remarks as insulting to citizens and a public institution, prompting the investigation. The case comes as Morocco continues to attract large numbers of visitors, with about 19.8 million tourists in 2025, even though direct flights from Ben Gurion Airport have been suspended since the war began and travelers now need a connecting flight.
