2 Egyptian TikTok influencers referred to criminal court for 'violating social values'

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Thu, 11 Jun 2020 - 03:23 GMT

BY

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 - 03:23 GMT

Photo compilation of Mawada Al-Adham (L) and Haneen Hossam (R)

Photo compilation of Mawada Al-Adham (L) and Haneen Hossam (R)

CAIRO – 11 June 2020: The Public Prosecution ordered referring controversial TikTok influencers Haneen Hossam and Mawada Al-Adham to the Criminal Court, over “violating family principles and values in the Egyptian society.

They also face accusations of managing private internet accounts to commit this offense, according to the charges.

The Prosecution said it also continues investigation in human trafficking accusations that they face.

Haneen Hossam

The North Cairo Court in Abbasiya district had earlier ruled to accept an appeal filed against a decision to release Hossam. The court had previously ruled to release Hossam on bail of LE 50,000 ($3,091)

Investigation into the case of Hossam has found her guilty of committing immoral actions through the Tik Tok application, taking advantage of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the society’s economic situation to lure and deceive young girls into using certain online applications to “meet strangers” and “post entertainment videos” for some extra cash.

Hossam, believed to be a social media influencer, especially by underage teenagers and children, was ordered to be detained pending investigation for 15 days for publishing online videos "inciting debauchery, immorality and violating public morals," according to a security source.

Hossam, who has 1.2 million followers on the social media app, posted a video to recruit women to join a group she created on short-video sharing platform Likee, with the purpose of promoting the platform in return for payment.

In the footage posted on Likee, she offered girls and women the chance to “work from home and earn around £2,025 to £2,430 for making live videos and talking to strangers.”

She added, "You will be able to form friendships with people in a respectable way."

The prosection accused Hossam on Saturday of committing human trafficking and inciting young girls to commit inappropriate actions online.

Sexual predators are now increasingly using popular online games, apps and social media to groom and talk to children, a new campaign to fight underage sexual abuse has revealed.

Police are warning parents that games, social media and apps such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Likee, Kik Tellonyn, Whispr, Minecraft and House Party - or any app that has a chat option - are being misused by child predators.

Hossam, widely known for using photo editing magnification tools on her photos to attract online attention, is also a second-year student at Cairo University Faculty of Archaeology.

Egypt Today reported the university’s president Mohamed Othman El-Khosht said he had received several messages that a student in the University was calling upon females to shoot "inappropriate" videos in return for money.

He reportedly stressed that the university will impose the maximum penalty for acting against the Egyptian community’s values and traditions.

Research by eSafety has revealed 1 in 4 young people have been contacted by a stranger online.

It is pertinent to mention that, Crime Stoppers and NSW Police Force have joined with the eSafety Commissioner's office for the first time to launch a child protection campaign to combat child sexual abuse and unwanted contact online.


Mawada Al-Adham
The Public Prosecution in May ordered remanding in custody social media influencer El-Adham for four days pending investigations over charges of harming public values.

The social media influencer is accused of creating profiles on social media apps to promote immorality and behaviors that are inconsistent with the family values in the Egyptian society.

The Interior Ministry received information that El-Adham ran away from her residence in the New Cairo district in order not to be arrested and used some electronic apps to encrypt her data while using the internet or making calls.

Security authorities arrested her at dawn Friday in a compound in 6th of October City where she was hiding from the police.

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