A high-profile belly dancer from Egypt, Sama El-Masry, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined $18,500 for inciting immorality and debauchery as part of a crackdown on social media postings on Saturday.
She was arrested in April during an investigation into photos and videos on social media platforms, including the popular video-sharing platform TikTok, that the public prosecution described as sexually suggestive.
However, the dancer has denied all the allegations, saying that the videos were stolen from her phone and posted online without her consent. On Saturday, Cairo’s Misdemeanours Economic Court said that Masry had violated family values and principles in Egypt as well as managing and using accounts and sites to commit immorality.
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John Talaat, a female member of the Egyptian parliament who called legal action Masry, said that there is a huge difference between debauchery and freedom. RushHourDaily reported that Talaat further added El-Masry and other social media female influencers were destroying family traditions and values, activities that are banned and prohibited under Egyptian law.
Previously, many women in Egypt have been accused of inciting debauchery by challenging the country’s conservative social norms, including famous actress Rania Youssef after critics took against her dress choice for a film festival in 2018.
The same year, Egypt also adopted a cybercrime law that gives the government full authority to censor the internet and exercise communication surveillance. Cybercrime law carries penalties of two years in prison and a fine of up to 18,500.
In recent months, dozens of female influencers and YouTubers have been arrested by the government on the charges of promoting prostitution and debauchery on social media platforms. Talaat said that other female influencers would face the same punishment as El-Masry as they have committed the same crime.
Meanwhile, women rights activists have insisted that women are the only category targeted under the new cybercrime law.
