5 years for violating ‘family values,’ ‘promoting prostitution’ upheld against 2 TikTok influencers

A decision to sentence TikTok content creators Sherifa Refaat and her daughter Nora Hashim to five years in prison on charges of infringing on “family values” and “promoting prostitution” was upheld on Sunday, their lawyer Hany Sameh told Mada Masr. 

The ruling is the latest in a series of cases that began in 2020 accusing at least 10 women of morality charges related to their content on video-sharing platforms, including Tik Tok, Likee and YouTube.

Sunday’s ruling at an appeals circuit at the Cairo Economic Court reduced the sentences Refaat and Hashim were originally handed in September by one year, though it upheld the court’s guilty verdict despite defense lawyers arguing that the charges should be dropped on the grounds that the defendants were interrogated without a lawyer in violation of the Constitution. Refaat and Hashem, who are known on TikTok as Sherry Hanom and Zomroda, were also fined LE100,000 each, Sameh said. 

The ruling leaves Refaat and Hashim one final chance to appeal the decision at the Court of Cassation, according to Sameh, although the appeals process at the court of last instance is a lengthy one. Sameh said that he will not be able to file for appeal until the Sunday ruling is officially issued in writing, and that the final appeal process could take at least one year, adding that both women will remain in prison in the meantime.

The case against Refaat and Hashim is part of a crackdown launched in 2020 that targeted content creators on TikTok on morality charges, many of which fell under a 2018 cybercrime law that gives judicial bodies wide-reaching powers to convict social media users on various grounds. These included the offense of “infringing on Egyptian family values,” a charge described as ambiguous and misogynistic by critics who launched a social media campaign for the women to be released. Other charges have included “promoting debauchery” and “promoting prostitution.”

In the highest-profile case, TikTok and Likee content creators Haneen Hossam and Mawada al-Adham are facing prosecution for human trafficking. Both Hossam and Adham were originally detained in April and May 2020 respectively and tried for charges of “violating family values,” facing prison time as well as a fine in the first stages of the trial. Early this year, Hossam was acquitted of the family values charges, though Adham was convicted and fined LE300,000. Yet, as the earlier case concluded, the Public Prosecution moved to file the new trafficking charges against the two defendants.

Pending investigation into the trafficking charges, Adham has remained held in remand detention while Hossam was released on bail in February. In April, however, Hossam was ordered held in remand detention, although authorities have been unable to find her.