Egypt has arrested or prosecuted about 40 people in the past month for social media posts, targeting them with charges ranging from indecency to undermining family values, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.
The interior ministry reported 29 cases between late July and late August, including at least 19 women and one child, while independent sources documented eight additional cases during the same period, said HRW.
Most of the targeted accounts, which remain largely accessible, featured a wide range of content, including comedy videos, lip-sync montages, low-cost cosmetic promotions and snapshots of everyday life.
The New York-based HRW said vague “morality charges” leading to “abusive prosecutions” had targeted four belly dancers, a comedian, tattoo artists and influencers on platforms like TikTok.
“Egyptian authorities’ campaign against online content creators seems intended to quell the last vestige of space for free expression in the country,” said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at HRW.
“This is part of the government’s relentless attempt to criminalise all forms of expression that do not conform with its political or social views.”
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) described the wave of arrests as the “most significant repression” since 2020.
Among those arrested was 16-year-old Nour Tofaha, accused of posting “immoral” videos showing her dancing.
A juvenile court sentenced her to two years in prison for incitement to immorality and debauchery, Egyptian media reported.
HRW’s Magdi called on Egyptian authorities to “release all those arrested for exercising their right to free speech online and drop the charges against them”.
“The authorities should also repeal all laws restricting the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and freedom of belief in the name of morality,” he added.
The rights group described Egypt’s 2018 cybercrime law as “one of the key tools for criminalising free expression in recent years”.
It said the authorities had also used a “combination of broad and poorly defined laws” to enable prosecutions.
EIPR has documented at least 151 people prosecuted for “violating family values” since 2020.
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