She’s Moving to Afghanistan. The Internet is Horrified.

In what has become one of the most annoyingly viral TikToks of all time, Alex Sunny (or Alexis Sun) acts like a Juliet separated from her Romeo. “POV: U.S. banned all Afghans from entry including my husband.” Sunny dramatically clutches her hands to her chest before the video cuts to her second POV: “So you just decide to go to Afghanistan to be with him!” She smiles broadly, pointing to two screenshots, one of her upcoming trip to Kabul and one of her e-visa. 

This TikTok has racked up over 12.7 million views, internet conspiracies in multiple languages, and a slew of warnings for the American woman traveling to the Taliban-controlled country, which many call the worst country to be a woman. As Meryl Streep famously said, a “cat” or “squirrel” has more freedom today than a woman in Afghanistan.

Is this rage bait? Is this AI? Is this a new get-viral-quick scheme? Does Alex Sunny read the news? We dug into the (very messy) internet rabbit hole — and spoke to the people whose perspectives might matter most: Afghans.