“It’s the return of the moral police on social networks! »exclaims Wassim El Pocho (not his real name), content creator on Instagram and TikTok. In the world of Tunisian influencers, everything changed on October 27, three weeks after the re-election of President Kaïs Saïed with 90.7% of the votes, by a press release from the Ministry of Justice.
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He announced that criminal proceedings would be initiated against “any person who intentionally engages in the production, dissemination or publication of information, images or videos likely to undermine moral values”. The warning specifically targeted the TikTok and Instagram platforms, accused of disseminating content contrary to the “good morals” et “likely to have a negative impact on the behavior of young people”.
Between October 31 and November 6, at least seven influencers who each have hundreds of thousands of subscribers were sentenced to sentences ranging from eighteen months to four and a half years in prison, in particular for content deemed contrary to the good morals. These court decisions were based on provisions of the penal code and the telecommunications code. “These are mainly contents deemed erotic, crude or considered harassment or calls for violenceexplains Nour Shaiek, the lawyer for one of the warned. They accumulated the sentences by applying several legal provisions to the same act. We were all surprised by their severity. »
Farid Ben Jha, spokesperson for the courts of Monastir and Mahdia, confirmed on national radio on November 6 that the maximum sanctions were imposed as a deterrent.
“Expiatory victims”
Among those incarcerated is the famous Instagrammer “Lady Samara”, followed by more than a million subscribers. Five months pregnant, she was sentenced at first instance to three years and two months in prison for, among other things, making comments of a sexual nature. “During the hearing of my client, who questioned the illegal nature of her videos, the judge replied that the question was more moral than legal”denounces his lawyer, Ghazi Mrabet, who appealed the decision. He hopes that the sentences will be reduced, while believing that by pronouncing such severe sanctions, justice is seeking to “to scare, like with journalists”.
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