A Tunisian appeals court has reduced the prison sentences of four social media influencers convicted of “violating public morals” online.
The ruling, announced Thursday, marks a shift in the legal treatment of these influencers, who were originally sentenced to long prison terms.
Three of the influencers have been released after their sentences were reduced to just three months, which they have already served.
Among the freed individuals is Lady Samara, a popular Instagram content creator with over a million followers. Her sentence was reduced from three and a half years to time already served.
TikTok influencers Afifa Ben Abdallah and her husband Ramzi also had their sentences shortened, with Ben Abdallah’s sentence cut to 18 months and her husband’s to three and a half years.
Another TikTok influencer, known as “Khoubaib,” remains in prison despite a reduction in his sentence from four and a half years to two.
The case follows a controversial move by Tunisia’s justice ministry in October, which urged prosecutors to crack down on content deemed offensive to “public morals.”
Although the ministry did not name specific individuals, the influencers were arrested shortly afterward, facing charges related to public indecency and violating societal values.
Since President Kais Saied’s rise to power in 2019, rights organizations have warned about a decline in freedoms and rights in Tunisia. The country remains the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring, but its future now faces new challenges.
