Prepared by: Rahma Samy, a researcher at AFTE’s Monitoring and Documentation Unit
Methodology
Introduction
First: What is creativity and is the targeted content creativity?
Second: The key patterns of crackdown on social media content creators:
Security crackdown on content creators over artistic works depicting police symbols
Security crackdown on content creators over works addressing economic and political issues
Crackdown on content creators for other various reasons
Conclusion and recommendations
Methodology
This paper is based on monitoring and documenting arrests of a number of citizens and social media content creators over their visual content, which the authorities saw in one way or another as tackling issues that are not welcome to be addressed. The paper also relies on previous reports issued by AFTE on the status of drama, television, and media ownership in Egypt, as well as monitoring and analyzing news and official statements, in addition to data received from AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit.
Introduction
Various lifelines in Egyptian society have been blocked economically, politically, socially, intellectually, and culturally over the last decade. The public sphere has been closed, and repression has spread widely. This comes despite expectations that guarantees for freedoms in the constitution would increase in a more detailed and tight manner after the 25 January 2011 revolution, and that freedom of creativity would be protected, especially after members of the 50-member committee that drafted the 2014 constitution insisted to add new paragraphs to protect freedom of creativity.
Article 67 of the Egyptian constitution provides for the protection, guarantee and care of freedom of creativity, limiting action against creativity to the Public Prosecution. It stipulates that “no lawsuit may be initiated or filed to stop or confiscate any artistic, literary, or intellectual works, or against their creators except by the Public Prosecution”. It further states that “no punishments of custodial sanction may be imposed for crimes committed because of the public nature of the artistic, literal or intellectual product. The law shall specify the penalties for crimes related to the incitement of violence or discrimination”.
Despite the existence of a constitutional article that represents a good basis for legal protection of freedom of creativity, the practices documented by AFTE during the past period reflect a government policy hostile to creativity, especially against those who use social media to convey their creative content to tens of millions of Egyptians.
What has happened since 2014 is an integrated process that sought to control creative content through traditional methods. It began with an almost complete monopoly of television channels and production, distribution and media companies through the United Media Services, which is owned by the General Intelligence Service, one of the main agencies involved in managing the Egyptian scene at various levels. This resulted in restrictions on creative content, in line with the government’s vision. The Media Regulation Law also formed a number of councils, mainly including the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, which has played a role over the past years in tightening control over creative content displayed on local TV channels. The Egyptian security services played a key role in targeting content creators and their works, away from the general policy of the government. All these agencies and councils have committed violations against content creators under political, security, and religious pretexts. This eventually weakened creative content.
Meanwhile, Egyptians’ use of social media to publish cultural and artistic content has increased, especially during the past three years. The measures taken during the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially social distancing, helped increase the use of social media platforms, especially those that rely on visual content, such as YouTube and TikTok. Videos of citizens imitating some characters or performing acting scenes or singing have since begun to emerge. Some artists working through traditional media even became passionate about using social media because of their wide popularity. These clips drew millions of views and therefore brough money to their makers. Thus, social media turned into a source of income for many who provide creative content in various forms.
These new platforms have spread with more free standards and with much less severe restrictions than those imposed by the state agencies on traditional platforms. While no creative work displayed on traditional media has criticized the government policies or portrayed any of the security agencies negatively, many clips published on social media did so. This of course prompted the security services to target social media content creators by referring them to the Supreme State Security Prosecution. We will review some of these cases in this report.
The crackdown concentrated on content creators who address political, economic, religious, and moral issues that affect the mood of society and the authorities, as well as creative content that depicts security symbols, even if entertainingly.
First: What is creativity and is the targeted content creativity?
In its ruling issued in January 1997 in lawsuit No. 2 of 15 filed to rule on the unconstitutionality of Article 5 of Law No. 35 of 1978 regarding the establishment of the syndicates and the union of syndicates of acting, cinematic and musical professions, the Supreme Constitutional Court defined creativity, whether academic, literary, artistic, or cultural, as “a free, conscious stance that extends to various types of arts and sciences with divergent means of expression”. It said creativity “must take a material form, whether as an illustration, sound, image, or moving work”. “It should not be limited to the sole possession of the creator but spread to others to influence them,” the court said.
“As such, creativity in the life of nations is a source of enrichment, not a luxury, deepening their mission to change modes of life through it. Indeed, it is an instrument for their advancement,” the court stated in its ruling.
It added that creativity is based on the independence of the creator, as “creativity in science and arts – whatever its color – is not a recognition of its existing features, but a change in it and a modification of its structure, or a development of it, so that the creator confirms his uniqueness in creating it, so it cannot be attributed to others, as he is its maker, and because the elements that he adds are not completely copied from others, but their originality stems from the fact that they contain a minimum number of elements of creation that approximate innovation”.
The court demanded that “creativity be appreciated by nations of different doctrines and orientations, and that nations facilitate the way to it by all means they have, so as not creativity will be isolated or considered fun or luxury”.
Referring to the targeted content, we find that it is consistent with what the Constitutional Court stated in its ruling, as all of them deal with a color of art and different forms of expression, including lyrical and satirical acting.
Second: The key patterns of crackdown on social media content creators:
Security crackdown on content creators over artistic works depicting police symbols
- “The Visit” video
Four Egyptian TikTok content creators were arrested over a satirical video titled “The Visit”. The video featured a woman (Warda) taking her friend Bessa (Ahmed Tariq, aka Chocolate) to visit her fiancé in a police station after a police force arrested him from the street and put him in a microbus. The woman finished her visit, leaving her fiancé flirting with phrases that impressed those who watched the video.
On 25 January 2023, nearly two weeks after the video was published, security forces arrested Mohamed Hossam El-Din, Basma Hegazy, Ahmed Ali El-Khouly and Ahmed Tariq over the video. On 29 and 30 January 2023, the State Security Prosecution decided to remand them in custody for 15 days pending investigation into Case No. 184 of 2023 (Supreme State Security). The prosecution charged them with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.
The charges levelled at content creators in Egypt over the last period used to be related to morality, such as human trafficking or incitement of debauchery. However, in “The Visit” video case, both Bessa and Warda faced charges of spreading false news and joining a banned group – despite the satirical content they provide – charges that are usually levelled at prisoners of conscience in Egypt.
Bessa posts videos on social media in a popular dialect, garnering millions of views, while Warda posts clips about fashion, clothing and cosmetics on TikTok.
Browsing Bessa’s account, we did not find any content directly related to politics, as the young content creator used to post dozens of satirical videos about the World Cup and his diary while watching a match at the café or buying something from the market.
Two months before their arrest, Hossam El-Din and El-Khouly posted a video under the title “The Public Prosecutor”, in which they talked about the impact of the dollar crisis on drug prices. At the same time, Hossam El-Din appeared in another video depicting a young man who decided to break off his engagement after the dollar crisis, according to AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit.
- The “Ambush” video
The charges levelled at Bessa and Warda over “The Visit” video are similar to those levelled at blogger Ahmed El-Desouky, who was arrested in August 2022 over a video clip in which he played the role of a police officer arresting a young man and a girl in a traffic ambush. Desouky was charged with misusing social media, offending the Egyptian police, and spreading false news.
Desouky is an Egyptian actor and content creator. He participated in more than a television work during the last period. He posts his acting videos on YouTube and TikTok, in which he usually plays the role of a police officer. He used to post these video with the aim of gaining money by increasing the number of views. However, the Egyptian authorities deemed some of his videos offensive to the police.
Security crackdown on content creators over works addressing economic and political issues
In the context of expanded arrests of TikTokers over their various content, such as lyrical, acting or satirical clips that criticize the country’s economic and political conditions, singer El-Amir Fahim was arrested on 28 June 2022 after he posted a video on TikTok featuring him wearing a military uniform and performing a song called “Theaters and Cinemas”, which was popular during the 25 January 2011 revolution and included political projections on the country’s domestic conditions. On 6 July of the same year, Fahim appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in connection with Case No. 440 of 2022 (Supreme State Security Prosecution), facing charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and using a social media account to commit a crime. On 24 October 2022, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to release him under the guarantee of his place of residence.
On 8 September 2021, Nagy Fawzy Ali Moawad (a 53-year-old carpentry machine operator at the Arab Contractors) and his nephew Taha Hamdy (a 26-year-old refrigeration and air conditioning technician) were arrested in Minya Governorate. They were taken to the National Security headquarters there, where they were interrogated about a video they posted on Facebook, in which they satirically addressed the tight economic conditions and the high prices in Egypt.
Moawad told the prosecutors that he made the video because of the hard conditions he was going through and his desire to break the depression he suffered. Both defendants denied any link to terrorist groups or political parties, and said they did not have mobile phones or social media accounts. They said someone filmed them and posted the video. They were remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigation into Case No. 910 of 2021 (Supreme State Security). The prosecution charged them with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media.
At the level of targeting works of a satirical nature, Attia Mohamed Abdel Aziz Rashwan, Antar Fahmy Rashwan Mohamed, and Hamada Mahmoud Sayed Eid, known in local media as “Zorafaa El-Ghalaba” (poor people’s funny band), were summoned to the Manfalut police station in Assiut Governorate on 31 March 2022 after they posted a satirical video in which they imitated the tune of a song presented by actor Akram Hosny during his satirical show “Good evening”, replacing its lyrics with words that mocked the price hikes.
The trio appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on 18 and 19 April 2022, in connection with Case No. 440 of 2022 (State Security). The prosecution charged them with joining a terrorist group established in violation of the constitution and the law, and spreading false news. On 7 May 2022, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to release them.
In the same context, Gamal Mohamed Salama was summoned by the National Security Agency. Once he arrived at the Belbis police station in Sharkia Governorate on 26 April 2022, he was taken to an unknown place, where he was illegally interrogated about his TikTok activity, especially a video he posted that simulated a song released by actor Akram Hosny, replacing its lyrics with words that criticized the price hikes.
During his interrogation at the National Security headquarters, Salama said the goal behind creating an account on TikTok was to publish videos for the purpose of “entertainment” and to garner views.
On 17 May 2022, Salama appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in the Fifth Settlement for the first time, in connection with Case No. 440 of 2022 (Supreme State Security Prosecution). He faced charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media. He was remanded in custody for 15 days pending investigation.
Salama, 43, is a tailor and has an account on TikTok, through which he posts entertainment videos.
Crackdown on content creators for other various reasons
On 21 June 2022, the police arrested Ashraf Ashry, Ahmed Ashry, Mohamed Samy Qutb, Hosny Mahmoud Othman, Osama Kamal, and Mohamed Ragab Abdel-Mageed in Alexandria for their participation in a TikTok video that garnered more than 6 million views. The video simulates a scene from the TV series “Rahim” starring Egyptian actor Yasser Galal, who played the role of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in the TV series Al-Ikhtiyar 3 (The Choice 3). The defendants were subjected to enforced disappearance for more than three weeks before they appeared before the State Security Prosecution on 7 July 2022 in connection with Case No. 440 of 2022. The prosecution charged them with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, and remanded them in custody at Abu Zaabal prison, according to AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit.
In a separate context, a young man was arrested for posting a video on TikTok featuring a group of young people performing a satirical acting scene. In the video, a person appears to perform prayers, while two people come from behind to steal his personal belongings and disrupt him, and then a girl appears to prevent them. The owner of the TikTok account was identified as a student residing in Alexandria who played the role of the prayer attendant in the video in question. After his arrest, he confessed to acting with others with the aim of drawing the largest possible number of views.
Conclusion and recommendations
Taking the abovementioned incidents into account, AFTE believes that the arrest of social media users at the hands of law enforcement agencies constitutes a flagrant violation of freedom of expression, restricts freedom of use of the internet, freedom of expression and the right to privacy, and imposes restrictions on freedom of creativity. AFTE believes that these practices are meant to intimidate citizens and content creators and prevent them from expressing themselves and their views in different ways. Therefore, AFTE recommends the following:
- The security agencies should stop targeting social media content creators
- The Public Prosecutor should immediately release the detained content creators
[1] Egyptian constitution, Article 67, Freedom of Creativity, https://urlis.net/ov2jibco [2] Legal Agenda, Ruling on the unconstitutionality of the fourth paragraph of Article 5 of Law No. 35 of 1978 regarding the establishment of the syndicates and the union of syndicates of acting, cinematic, and musical professions, published on 21/5/2022; Last visited on 18/12/2023, https://urlis.net/ofuv1run [3]Al-Manassa, News Bulletin, Three comedy content creators arrested on charges of joining a terrorist group, published on 30 January 2023, last visited on 9/9/2023; and AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit, https://urlis.net/x4ceioyy [4]Bessa’s account on TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@mohamedhossam1993?lang=ar [5]AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit, Legal news, https://urlis.net/zsnygiwb [6]The Egyptian Front for Human Rights, 21/9/2021, For posting a video on high prices: Nagy Fawzy and Taha Hamdy remanded in custody in Case No. 910 of 2021 (State Security) on charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media; Last visited on 18/9/2023, https://rb.gy/dik5c [7]AFTE’s Legal Aid Unit [8]Sada el-Balad, Ramadan Ahmed, The rest of defendants in the acting prayer video on TikTok arrested, published on 17/10/2021, last visited on 18/9/2023, https://rb.gy/huj9r
