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Dozens of TikTokers have been detained by authorities over charges of indecency and money laundering as the government moves to tighten control on social media.
TikToker in Egypt have come under scrutiny over alleged objectionable content. (Reuters)
Dozens of teenage TikTokers with millions of followers have been detained in Egypt over accusations ranging from violating family values to laundering money through social media, in what critics describe as a broader effort to tighten control over social media.
Egyptian police have announced dozens of arrests, and prosecutors say they are investigating at least 10 cases of alleged unlawful financial gains, according to Reuters. Furthermore, the arrested TikTokers have been penalised with travel bans and asset freezes while their devices have been confiscated.
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Notably, social media has been one of the few alternatives to traditional media, which has been largely controlled by the media. The move signals a push by authorities to control speech and dissent on social media, thereby extending their authority online.
Several of those who have been detained were only small children when activists used Facebook to mobilise the 2011 protests that toppled long-serving president Hosni Mubarak. They have been arrested over what lawyers describe as vague laws.
Indecency, Money Laundering Allegations
As per the Reuters report, authorities can review a TikToker’s entire archive of posts, and if they deem even one post indecent, they can label the influencer’s income as illegal and prosecute them for financial crimes related to their earnings.
Mariam Ayman, a 19-year-old who has 9.4 million followers under the name Suzy El Ordonia, has been jailed since August 2, facing charges of distributing indecent content and laundering 15 million pounds ($300,000).
The Interior Ministry said she was arrested after the authorities received complaints about her posts. In her final video, Ayman acknowledged that she may have “agitated, cursed, or told a bad joke” in her previous videos, but claimed that it was meant to vent her frustration and not to influence the younger generation.
While not commenting on her case, Ayman’s lawyer, Marawan al-Gindy, said indecency laws were being applied arbitrarily. “here is a law that criminalises indecent acts, but what we need is consistent application and defined rules, not just for TikTok, for all platforms,” he said.
In an interview with a podcaster recorded before her arrest, Ayman said that if she had 10 million Egyptian pounds, she would spend half of it to move her family to a better home, help her parents start a shop and enrol her sister in a private school to receive better care. Shortly after that appearance, her interviewer, podcaster Mohamed Abdel Aaty, was also arrested.
Public Complaints
Earlier this month, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) urged authorities to stop the “aggressive security campaign” based on “vague” morality provisions, noting that 151 people have been charged over a 2018 cybercrime law that criminalises infringing on “any of the principles or family values in Egyptian society”.
As the campaign has escalated, prosecutors have encouraged citizens to report objectionable content. The Interior Ministry has launched its own TikTok page to encourage citizens to report objectionable content.
Since then, TikTokers have lately found themselves inundated with comments accusing them of immorality, particularly female TikTok users and those with religious views, or LGBT Egyptians.
TikTok says it enforces its own community guidelines through automation and human moderation. In its latest quarterly report, it said it had removed over 2.9 million videos from Egypt.
(with inputs from Reuters)
About the Author
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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Cairo, Egypt
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