Egyptian content creators arrested over comic prison visit video

Detainees face prices reminiscent of ‘publishing false information and utilising social media accounts to commit acts of terrorism’, says lawyer.

The costs the content material creators face are generally used in opposition to individuals deemed to be undermining the state or its safety [File: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]

5 social media content material creators had been arrested in Egypt after publishing a extensively considered spoof sketch a couple of go to to an Egyptian jail.

The video clip, titled The Go to, exhibits a girl visiting her fiance in jail. The 2 interact in banter with a number of different characters who additionally seem on the detention centre, together with a jail guard.

The three-minute video was revealed on January 13 and has been considered greater than seven million instances on Fb.

5 individuals who appeared within the video had been arrested by Nationwide Safety Company representatives final week earlier than being transferred to the prosecution and ordered detained for 15 days pending investigation, stated Mokhtar Mounir, a lawyer for 2 of these arrested, on Wednesday.

They embody Mohamed Hossam, who has a couple of million followers on Fb, and Basma Hegazy, who has greater than 200,000 followers on TikTok.

The 5 face prices reminiscent of “becoming a member of a terrorist group, funding terrorism, publishing false information and utilising social media accounts to commit acts of terrorism”, stated Mounir.

He stated they had been detained over the video however he didn't know what facets of it triggered their arrest.

The costs they face are generally used in opposition to individuals deemed to be undermining the state or its safety.

Different circumstances have been introduced in opposition to content material creators and social media influencers in Egypt in recent times, together with over movies that contact on delicate topics.

Authorities arrested a gaggle of TikTok influencers final April after they revealed a parody track about worth will increase. The influencers had been later launched, in keeping with the Egyptian Initiative for Private Rights (EIPR), an unbiased rights group.

Additionally final 12 months, an Egyptian court docket sentenced TikTock influencer Haneen Hossam to 3 years in jail after she was convicted of “human trafficking” in a retrial.

The cost was introduced in opposition to her over a video she had posted telling her 1.3 million followers on Instagram that women over the age of 18 can earn money by working along with her on social media.

Rights group Amnesty Worldwide has condemned the sentencing of Egypt’s TikTok influencers.