Haneen Hossam in a screenshot taken from the video that caused her arrest
A Cairo court on Thursday ordered the release on bail of Egyptian TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam, 20, who had been detained for 15 days pending investigation after being charged with inciting debauchery and immorality.
Hossam, who will have to pay EGP 50,000 (approximately $3,000) for bail, was arrested on 21 April after posting videos on TikTok which were described by prosecutors as "inciting debauchery and immorality."
The Cairo University archaeology student, who has 1.2 million followers on the social media app, posted a video recruiting women to join a group she created on short video sharing platform Likee, with the purpose of promoting the platform in return for payment.
The general prosecution said previously that she was caught with three phones and a laptop in her possession and that it found WhatsApp conversations on her phones containing agreements with those in charge of a social media app to lure young girls to make friends with the app’s followers, taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and society’s economic condition.
There were three accounts on different online applications, containing many pictures and videos of Hossam dancing and singing in a suggestive manner to get followers and likes.
The prosecution also found a bank transfer statement of $3,600 received from the aforementioned app in exchange for the videos she recorded.
Video-sharing platforms like TikTok have been gaining notoriety in Egypt in recent years, with content creators being condemned for making videos where they dress and behave in a way that many in the conservative country deem suggestive or inappropriate.
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