Controversy over the prison sentence for “human trafficking” of an influencer who recruited girl dancers on TikTok

the recognized TikToker egyptian Haneen Hossam, who had been arrested in 2020, was sentenced to three years in prison, after being convicted at trial for human trafficking through her social networks. In the case, she involved girls dancing in videos.

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“I didn’t do anything immoral to deserve this,” Hossam said, crying in a video, before being detained. The young woman, who is around 20 years old, was accused of exploitation of minors. She did it through recordings that were published on different internet platforms in exchange for money for the girls.

Some human rights activists argued that this fact is part of a persecution campaign against women who are dedicated to being influencers and have a strong presence in youth. They argued that the charges that both Hossam and 11 other female influencers with millions of followers violate the rights to privacy and freedom of expression.

Hossam, a Cairo University student, gained more than 900,000 followers on TikTok while posting videos in which she moved her lips to songs and also danced.

Hossam had been arrested for the first time in April 2020, after inviting her followers to join the Likee platform. (Haneen Hossam/Twitter/)

She was first arrested in April 2020, after inviting her followers to join Likee, another multimedia platform, where she said they could earn money by recording videos. In July, the Cairo Economic Court convicted Hossam and Mawada al-Adham, another TikToker, on charges of “violation of family values ​​and rights.” They were sentenced to two years in prison and fined $16,100.

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Although an appeals court acquitted Hossam in January 2021 and she was released the following month, prosecutors later singled her out for a more serious charge of human trafficking. The same thing happened with al-Adham.

Both were accused of “using girls in acts contrary to the values ​​of Egyptian society with the aim of earning money”. Local media reported that this is linked to a group in which the influencer promoted her social networks.

In June, the Cairo Criminal Court found them both guilty. Hossam received a 10-year prison sentence in absentia. Al-Adham, for her part, was sentenced for six years.

Before being arrested, Hossam had posted a video in which she was crying, in which she said: “I didn’t do anything immoral to deserve this.”

Source: Elcomercio