Egypt’s female social media influencers jailed

CAIRO: An Egyptian court Monday sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals, a judicial source said. The verdict against Haneen Hossam, Mowada AlAdham and three others came after they had posted footage on videosharing app TikTok. “The Cairo economic court sentenced Hossam, Adham and three others to two years after they were convicted of violating society’s values,” the judicial source said.

The ruling, which can be appealed, included a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,750) for each defendant, the source noted. Hossam was arrested in April after posting a three-minute clip telling her 1.3 million followers that girls could make money by working with her. In May, authorities arrested Adham who had posted satirical videos on TikTok and Instagram, where she has at least two million followers.

Lawyer Ahmed Hamza al-Bahqiry said the young women are facing separate charges over the sources of their funds. The arrests highlight a social divide in the deeply conservative Muslim country over what constitutes individual freedoms and “social norms”. Human rights lawyer Tarek al-Awadi has previously told AFP that the influencers’ arrests showed how society was wrestling with the rapid rise of modern communications technology. Internet penetration has reached over 40 percent of Egypt’s youthful population of more than 100 million. “The verdict is shocking, though it was expected. We will see what happens on appeal,” said womens rights lawyer Intissar Al-Saeed.