Closed Doors, Unsilenced Voices

One morning, like any other, I opened the app. My mind was already thinking about what I wanted to share, what I wanted to express, what I wanted to show. But something was missing. Something was gone.

Snapchat’s Spotlight feature was shut down for my country.

A button, a line of code, a decision… And just like that, my right to exist in that space was taken away. The rest of the world carried on as usual. But for me, things had changed. What was taken from me wasn’t just a feature—it was a voice, a space, a stage.

I have lived through this before. Borders are not just drawn on maps. They try to confine us into small boxes. “You cannot be here,” they say. “We don’t want to see you.” This time, it’s an app saying it. But I’ve heard it countless times before.

Censorship is not always about banning words. Sometimes, it’s about taking away the ability to share. “You can speak, but no one will hear you.”

And it exhausts me. Not just me, but everyone like me. You find a way, you carve out a space, you build a stage—then one day, it’s taken away. Another door slammed shut. And you stand there, looking at that closed door, wondering: What now?

I feel helpless. I feel angry. But I will not give up.

Because my story is bigger than a platform’s rules. My dreams are larger than the permissions of an algorithm. If one door closes, I will open the windows. If one path is blocked, I will carve my own.

They will not silence me.

Because those who want to silence me don’t understand where my voice comes from. I don’t just exist on a platform—I exist in words, in images, in dreams. And I will not disappear just because a feature is gone.

No matter how much they want me to, no matter how hard they try…

I am here.

And I will not be invisible.