Egypt court overturns TikTok stars' jail sentences

Mawada al-Adham was one of five social media stars jailed and fined

A court in Egypt has overturned the prison sentences of two women who were convicted of posting "indecent videos" on TikTok last year.

Mawada al-Adham and Haneen Hossam were among five young women sentenced to two years in prison and given fines of nearly $20,000 (£15,300; 17,000 euros) over videos posted online.

Ms Hossam has been acquitted of all charges, according to local media.

However, the court upheld the fines on Adham and the other defendants.

Their cases attracted widespread attention in Egypt, where the women became known as the "TikTok girls".

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Ms Hossam was arrested in April 2020 after posting a three-minute clip telling her 1.3 million followers that girls could make money by working with her, according to the AFP news agency.

While Ms Hossam was cleared of the main charges against her on Tuesday, she still faces charges of human trafficking, according to Reuters news agency.

In May last year, Adham was arrested after posting satirical videos on TikTok and Instagram, where she had at least two million followers.

The other three people whose prison sentences were also overturned have not been identified.

The women were charged with inciting "debauchery" and "immorality" with the content they posted on the video-sharing platform, although it was not always clear which videos and photos were of concern to the authorities, correspondents say.

Under Egyptian law, the charge of "inciting debauchery" is used against a range of offences. The public prosecutor's office often determines the charge as something that is "against Egyptian society's traditions and morals".

TikTok's popularity in Egypt has skyrocketed in recent months, especially following the restrictions on movement imposed by the government to curb the spread of Covid-19, reports say.

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