TikToker Suzy al-Ordoniya handed prison time for ‘immoral’ content in widely publicized trial

TikTok creator Mariam Ayman, known online as Suzy al-Ordoniya, was sentenced on Wednesday by the Cairo Economic Court to one year in prison and fined LE100,000, Tamer Rashad, a member of her defense team, told Mada Masr, adding that he has appealed the ruling.

Ayman was convicted of publishing videos deemed offensive to public morals — the same videos for which she had already been fined LE300,000 under a previous ruling issued last year, according to her lawyer.

Her trial has drawn extensive media attention and is being upheld as a public example amid a broader campaign launched in August, which has seen dozens of TikTok creators targeted by authorities following reports filed by social media users and self-styled “public interest” lawyers.

On Tuesday, the Public Prosecution published a video of its courtroom argument in Ayman’s case on its official Facebook page, describing it as part of its regular plea practice and legal training strategy.

But in the video, a public attorney also sought to draw popular attention to the case, stating that Ayman's case and punishment should serve as a “general deterrent” against others “tempted to commit such an obscene act,” as well as a “personal” deterrent to Ayman herself.

Questioning the prosecution’s decision to publish its plea condemning Ayman, Moemen Ezz Eddin, another member of the 19-year-old creator’s defense team, told Mada Masr that the same session included arguments against other content creators currently on trial, none of which were made public by the prosecution.

Not only is Ayman being tried over the same videos, but investigative authorities even relied on the same police report and investigations, said Ezz Eddin, which included “screenshots extracted from Suzy’s livestreams.”

“I already got punished for the videos that were inappropriate. After that, I didn't do anything wrong,” Suzy said during the trial on Wednesday, denying all charges against her.

In his closing argument last week, a copy of which Mada Masr reviewed, Ezz Eddin said that “Mariam is not in need of punishment,” adding that sentencing her again over the same videos would “threaten the future of a child and of an entire family.”

Ayman was convicted for publishing videos that contained language offensive to public morals, Rashad added.

In its plea, the prosecution argued that Ayman had created accounts on social media platforms with the aim of achieving quick fame and fortune, which it estimated at millions of pounds, “with no regard for her studies or academic path.”

Initially also accused of the commonly used charges of violating family values, Ayman was acquitted of these charges on Wednesday, Rashad noted.

Ayman was arrested in August amid a campaign that has seen the widespread prosecution of content creators for moral infractions, an escalation of a practice that authorities began in 2020.

Ayman faced trial last year for the same content and was sentenced at the time to two years in prison and fined LE300,000 by the North Cairo Criminal Court of Appeals on charges related to the use of offensive language. The Juvenile Appeals Court then overturned the prison sentence in January, upholding only the fine.

Suzy is among dozens of content creators who have been arrested over the past few months amid a renewed security campaign —  led by social media users and lawyers — targeting creators, particularly women, for publishing material deemed morally offensive on TikTok and other platforms.