Miss Algeria winner targeted by trolls for being too dark

She beat 16 other women to be crowned Miss Algeria, but Khadija Ben Hamou’s win has been subjected to a torrent of racist abuse.

Khadija made history when she became the first black woman to take the crown at the annual beauty pageant on Saturday, but her win has since been tainted by online trolls who flooded Facebook and Twitter with comments about her appearance.

When other social media users began to call out those spouting racist abuse, some Twitter users maintained it had nothing to do with race. “She just wasn’t that pretty,” one person wrote.

Plenty of other users were quick to praise the diversity of this year’s competition and jump to Khadija's defence.

One Facebook user wrote: “If I understand correctly, you want a Miss Algeria that looks like a Swedish!? It's one of the charms of our diversity, a Saharan charm, I'm glad to finally see a miss who comes from the south Algerian [sic].”

Another wrote: “Y’all can’t be making fun of her nose, hair and skin complexion and say it’s not racist.”

Khadija, who comes from Adrar in the south of the country, took part in 20 rounds of the competition before being crowned Miss Algeria 2019.

She will go on to represent the country at Miss World, and will take part in charity work.