Middle East|Egypt Overturns Jail Sentences for two Women Who Gained Fame on TikTok
Convicted of inciting debauchery and violating household values, the ladies had been caught up in a conservative backlash because the authorities tried to implement strict social norms.
A mixture of pictures exhibiting movies from Haneen Hossam, left, and Mowada el-Adham, who grew to become stars on social media.Credit…Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
- Jan. 13, 2021, 6:17 a.m. ET
CAIRO — An Egyptian courtroom has overturned the sentences of two younger girls who had been convicted and imprisoned last year on expenses of “violating family values” and “inciting debauchery” after they gained fame on TikTok, based on state-run media.
The case drew widespread consideration as Egyptian prosecutors waged a far-ranging authorized battle final 12 months towards what they thought of public immorality in social media.
The two girls had been amongst a handful of social media influencers, together with a feminine pop star and a stomach dancer, to come back beneath scrutiny for his or her posts lately. As their social media followings and, in some circumstances, earnings earned via movies have grown, younger feminine influencers have confronted a conservative backlash in a rustic the place activist attorneys and prosecutors take it upon themselves to implement strict social norms for ladies.
The girls, Haneen Hossam and Mawada el-Adham, had been 20 and 22 once they had been convicted and sentenced in July to 2 years in jail. They grew to become stars on TikTok, Instagram and different social media platforms with playful movies they posted of themselves dancing, lip-syncing and singing.
Egyptians caught at dwelling through the coronavirus lockdown beloved it, and the ladies accrued hundreds of thousands of followers. But in comparison with different social media posts in Egypt and the West, the movies appeared tame; Ms. Hossam often appeared in a head scarf.
