Egyptian court renews detention of TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam

Ahram Online , Saturday 9 May 2020

The rising TikTok influencer was arrested on 21 April on charges of posting videos on the platform which were described by prosecutors as "inciting debauchery and immorality"

Haneen Hossam
Haneen Hossam in a screenshot taken from the video that caused her arrest

A Cairo court ordered the 15-day detention renewal of Egyptian TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam after accepting an appeal by the general prosecution against a previous court rule which ordered her release.

The decision comes two days after Hossam, 20, was ordered released by a Cairo court on Thursday with a posted bail of EGP 50,000 (approximately $3,000) after her arrest on 21 April on charges of 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 earlier said she was arrested with three smartphones 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.

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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