Haneen Hossam was arrested in April after posting a clip saying girls can make money working with her
Cairo:
An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced five influential social media women to two years in prison for violating public morals, a court source said.
The verdict against Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others came after he posted images on the TikTok video sharing app.
“The Cairo Economic Court sentenced Hossam, Adham and three others to two years after being found guilty of violating the values of the company,” the source said.
The decision – which can be appealed – included a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($ 18,750) each, the source added.
Hossam was arrested in April after posting a three-minute clip telling 1.3 million subscribers girls can make money working with her.
In May, authorities arrested Adham, who posted satirical videos on TikTok and Instagram, where she has at least two million subscribers.
The arrests highlighted a social divide in this deeply conservative Muslim country over what constitutes individual freedoms and “social norms”.
Some analysts say young women have been targeted because of their humble roots.
Their arrests “are part of violence against women because they come from the working classes,” according to lawyer Intesar al-Saeed.
Egypt has imposed strict controls on the Internet through laws allowing authorities to block websites deemed to be a threat to national security and monitor personal social media accounts with more than 5,000 subscribers.
Rights groups say the laws strengthen government censorship of online media.
Human rights lawyer Tarek al-Awadi said the latest arrests show how deeply conservative and religious a society is struggling against the rapid rise of modern communication technologies.
“A technological revolution is underway and lawmakers must take into account an ever-changing environment,” Awadi said.
Internet penetration has reached over 40 percent of Egypt’s youthful population of over 100 million.
Online communications were a key instrument in the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
