An Egyptian TikTok star has been sentenced to three years in prison after a court convicted her of human trafficking at retrial.
Haneen Hossam, who is in her early 20s, was accused of exploiting girls for money through video-sharing platforms.
She denied the charge, which was linked to an invitation to her followers to get paid for making live videos.
Human rights activists say she has been prosecuted as part of a crackdown on female social media influencers.
They argue that the charges Hossam and at least 11 other women with millions of followers have faced since 2020 violate the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, non-discrimination and bodily autonomy.
Hossam, a Cairo University student, gained more than 900 000 followers on TikTok by posting videos showing her lip-syncing to songs and dancing.
She was first arrested in April 2020 after inviting her women followers to join another video-sharing platform, Likee, where she said they could make money by broadcasting live videos.
That July, Cairo’s Economic Court convicted Hossam and another TikTok star, Mawada al-Adham, of the charge of “violating family values and principles”.
It sentenced them to two years in prison and fined them 300 000 Egyptian pounds (US$16 100; £12 400). (BBC)
