TikToker forcibly disappeared from family home after posting content criticizing government, lawyer says

After posting content on social media criticizing the government, Mohamed Allam was arrested by security forces on Saturday at his grandmother’s house in Faisal, according to his defense lawyer, Nabih al-Genady.

Allam was forcibly disappeared at the time of publication as authorities were yet to reveal his whereabouts to his family, Genady told Mada Masr.

The TikToker, whose handle is Mohamed Rivaldo, has been posting videos over recent months criticizing the Egyptian government, gaining traction from both supporters and critics of his stance on the social media platform where he had over 1.1 million followers, according to a cached version of his TikTok profile, which is currently deactivated.

Authorities had attempted to arrest Allam on Friday, storming his house in Ain Shams, where he was not present at the time, Genady said. Allam posted a video on the same day, questioning how security forces were not able to arrest him despite pursuing him and storming his residential building.

The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) expressed concern about Allam’s safety in a statement published on Sunday, citing what it called “intensive incitement campaigns” launched against him by social media users, which it said explicitly called for him to be tortured. 

Allam and his family members have previously faced security restrictions that were linked to their political opinions on social media platforms and their public dissent toward government decisions. 

In 2018, Allam’s brother, political activist Youssef Ibrahim, was arrested after taking part in protests against a hike in metro fares and remained in remand detention before his release in March 2020 under probationary measures that required him to be present at the Ain Shams police department twice a week. 

Amid a security crackdown against social media users who published calls for protest in 2022, security forces had stormed Allam’s house in search of his brother, only a few days ahead of the November protests. The forces did not find Youssef Ibrahim present in the house at the time and arrested Allam in his place. Allam was released 7 months later.

A source close to their family, speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity at the time, said that while security forces aimed to arrest Ibrahim, they took Allam instead when they could not find him.

Allam’s brother was later arrested again two years later while walking in downtown Cairo in August 2024. His phone was searched, and he was interrogated by the National Security Agency before orders were issued to hold him in remand detention pending investigation into charges of spreading false news and terrorism for his social media posts at the time. He is yet to be released. 

Genady, who is Youssef’s lawyer in the latest case, told Mada Masr that he will be Allam’s lawyer as well, adding that he is currently waiting for the TikToker to appear before investigating authorities.