Court acquits Egypt TikTok influencers charged with 'debauchery'

This combination of pictures shows a woman watching videos of video of (L to R) Egyptian influencers Haneen Hossam and Mowada al-Adham, who were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of violation public morals, on the video-sharing app TikTok in Egypt's capital Cairo. Photos by Khaled Desouki/AFP

This combination of pictures shows a woman watching videos of video of (L to R) Egyptian influencers Haneen Hossam and Mowada al-Adham, who were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of violation public morals, on the video-sharing app TikTok in Egypt's capital Cairo. Photos by Khaled Desouki/AFP

Published Jan 12, 2021

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Cairo, Egypt - An Egyptian appeals court on Tuesday acquitted two young women imprisoned for "attacking society's values" over videos they published on TikTok, a court official said.

"The court of appeal accepted the appeal filed by Haneen Hossam and Mawada Al-Adham against their imprisonment... on charges of incitement to debauchery and attacking society's values," the official said, asking not to be named.

The women had been sentenced to two years in prison in July 2020 for "breaching public morals".

Hossam had been arrested in April after posting a video on TikTok, telling her 1.3 million subscribers that girls could work with her for money.

She was accused of "inciting debauchery", "attacking public morals" and "human trafficking".

Al-Adham, who has some two million Instagram followers, was also arrested in May after publishing satirical videos.

They are among a dozen "influencers" arrested in 2020 for "breaching public morals" in the conservative country.

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