Egypt: TikTok celebrity arrested for 'undermining family morals'

Women in Egypt are being arrested on charges such as overlooking"public morals" and "undermining family morals" under a 2018 cyber crime law. The latest victim is the TikTok influencer Salma Elshimy who was arrested after one of her posts on the short-form video sharing platform was deemed offensive.

Elshimy had just landed at Cairo International Airport when she was arrested on April 3. The 33-year-old social media celebrity was arrestedon charges of inciting “debauchery” and “violating family values” through her social media posts.

The Egyptian model and influencer with a purported follower base of 3.3 million on TikTok was reportedly returning from a trip to Dubai. It was reported that Elshimy had filed for a permanent residency in Dubai itself. Elshimy's arrest was first reported by a United Arab Emirates-photographer.

According to Qatar-based Middle East Monitor, Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered that she be detained for four days on charges of "spreading immorality" and publishing videos and photographs that "contradict social morals and values".

But this is not the first time that Elshimy has been arrested by the Egyptian authorities. She was arrested for a month in December 2020, and later released on bail. Elshimy was arrested for posing outside Saqqara necropolis, near the ancient capital of Memphis. The social media influencer was widely denounced in Egypt for posting photographs of herself in ancient Egyptian dress in front of the Pyramid of Djoser.

Local media accused her of “exploiting the cultural value of the antiquities in inappropriate Pharaonic clothes”.

"Arresting women and girls on very vague grounds simply for posting videos and photos of themselves on social media sites is discriminatory and directly violates their right to free expression," Rothna Begum, a senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a 2020 report. "Policing women’s peaceful conduct online smacks of a new effort to control women’s use of public spaces."

Rights trackerssay more than a dozen female influencers have been arrested since 2020. They include TikTok celebrities Haneen Hossam, 24, and Mawada al-Adham, 22, who were first arrested in 2020 and later jailed for social media posts deemed to violate "public morals".

Hossam was notably accused of "human trafficking"for telling her 1.3 million followers at the time that young girls could earn money through social media posts.

In 2020, a young influencer was arrested in Egypt after sheposted a live video of herself in which she appeared covered in bruises. She plead with the authorities to arrest and prosecute men she accused of beating and raping her. The woman was herself charged with violating "public morals" and "undermining family values", based on her alleged assailants’ testimony.

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"These serial arrests of women send a chilling signal about the state of women’s rights in Egypt," wrote HRW’s Begum. "Instead of tackling pervasive domestic violence, sexual harassment, and violence, Egyptian authorities appear intent on reinforcing societal discrimination by persecuting women and girls for how they appear online or what they say."

If she is found guilty, Elshimy faces up to five years in prison and €8,000 ($8,700) in fines for "violating public morality", and a further six months in jail and up to €3,000 for "infringing on family principles and values in Egyptian society."

(With inputs from agencies)

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