Arbitrary arrests of Egypt’s influencers sparks rights concerns

Further concerns over human rights in Egypt have been triggered by the interior ministry’s crackdown on content creators, with arrests made and offenders given vague charges, according to the New Arab plus agencies on August 3rd.

The most notable incident has been the arrest on August 2nd in New Cairo of an 18-year-old influencer known as “Suzy el Ordoneya”.

The interior ministry stated that multiple reports had been filed against Ordoneya; however, it is not clear yet what the charges are.

Ordoneya has been previously arrested on similar charges of verbally abusing her father on a viral TikTok livestream by using “indecent language”, said the prosecutors.

She was sentenced by the Juvenile Court to two years in prison and fined $6,200. Her bail was set at $2,070.

The previous arrest of Ordoneya also drew the attention of the public- it was denounced on social media with people criticising the authorities for targeting her, one user commenting, asking, “Why is it only women and only women from a certain social class getting arrested for indecency?”

Those from marginalised groups are especially being targeted, experts have warned.

Human rights organizations have denounced what they describe as the “systemic targeting of girls and young women,” and are arguing the Egyptian authorities to stop the “moral guardianship” that is being imposed on digital content and suppress freedom of expression.

Multiple young people who regularly post content on social media sites have been arrested, with similarly vague charges made. Authorities only disclosed that the arrests were due to “violating family values and publishing inappropriate content.”

Experts warn that the lack of criteria or explanation from the interior ministry on what constitutes “offensive content” has led to arrests over subjective interpretations of what creators are posting.

Prominent influencers who have been targeted alongside Ordoneya include Haneen Hossam, Mawadda al-Adham, and Mai Farouk.

The condition of Egyptian prisons has also brought media attention, as well as the seemingly arbitrary arrests.

Since the beginning of 2025, at least a dozen people have died inside Egyptian prisons due to medical negligence, ill treatment and suicide, most of them being held at a prison in Cairo.

Rights groups have also highlighted that prisoner abuses and the number of political prisoners have surged since the current President Abdel Fattah All-Sisi came to power in 2014.

In 2024 on August 17th, an Egyptian prisoner died after being tortured by prison guards and then denied medical treatment.

New Arab/ Agencies/Maghrebi