ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Gehan al-Faily, an Iraqi social media personality, was detained on charges of “defamation and threats” in the capital Baghdad on Thursday, a security source told The New Region.

Faily gained notoriety on social media in recent months, after publishing a video where she brags about purchasing a brand-new Chevy Tahoe, saying it has always been her dream to buy the vehicle, and coining the phrase “Tahoe, and glory to God.”

The phrase quickly became a trend on Iraqi social media, and Faily gained over 200,000 followers on TikTok.

The influencer, who became widely known as “The Mother of Tahoe,” faced harsh criticism online, with many making lewd suggestions and accusing her of having obtained the money to purchase the car through “unethical practices.”

The retail price for a 2025 Chevy Tahoe currently starts at $58,500.

Faily responded strongly to the negative comments with several videos where she uses vulgar language to fire back at her critics.

There have been no public statements from official authorities regarding her detention as of the time of this writing.

Iraqi authorities have intensified their efforts in the "combating inappropriate content" campaign, which began in early 2023, targeting social media influencers.

In January 2023, the interior ministry launched an online reporting platform on its official website for content deemed to "offend public taste and convey negative messages that violate decency.”

Without a clear definition of "public taste," the judiciary issued arrest warrants that were enforced by the ministry's security forces. The crackdown led to the detention of several social media influencers accused of producing "inappropriate content offensive to public taste."

Social media influencer Ghufran Sawadi, widely known as Om Fahad, was sentenced to six months in prison in February 2023, for “undermining modesty and public morality.”  She was killed in her car in April 2024 by a gunman on a motorcycle in the Zayouna neighborhood of eastern Baghdad.