Egypt grapples with women’s freedoms online as #MeToo re-emerges

A combination of file pictures shows a woman watching videos of (l-r) Hossam and al-Adham on the video-sharing app TikTok in Egypt's capital Cairo. Aside from being a virtual battleground of competing interpretations of morality, social media has also empowered young Egyptian women to speak up about sexual assault, sometimes with negative consequences. — AFP

CAIRO: Social media has become a new and dangerous battleground for women’s rights in Egypt after young TikTok influencers were jailed while a resurgent #MeToo movement decried male sexual violence.

Last Monday, a court sentenced five female social media influencers, Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others, to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals over content posted to video-sharing app TikTok.