Tunisia sentences four more influencers to jail

Less than a week after Tunisia sentenced Instagrammer Choumoukh to four and a half years in prison for “immoral content”, four more influencers who were a part of the initial investigation have received prison sentences, according to AFP citing local news sources. 

Lady Samara, who has roughly a million followers on Instagram, was sentenced to three years and two months. 

Another Instagrammer, known as Afifa was given a sentence of a year and six months. Her husband Ramzi got a harsher sentence: three years and six months.

TikTok influencer Khoubaib received four years and six months. 

The private radio station Mosaique FM reported that they were being charged for “public indecency, dissemination of content contrary to good morals or adopting immoral positions, using inappropriate language or adopting inappropriate behaviour that undermines moral and social values and risks negatively influencing the behaviour of young users of these platforms".

Tunisia’s justice ministry urged prosecutors on October 27 to investigate individuals creating content that “undermines moral values”.

The decision was widely controversial. Some online commentators lamented the spread of crude language and images on social media while others expressed concern about Tunisia’s increasing tendency to silence voices. 

An article in online magazine Nawaat, said “following the systematic dismantling of judicial power, the prosecution of opponents and journalists, and the repression of civil society, social media influencers – regardless of the quality of their content – are now in the regime's crosshairs.”