Five young women were sentenced to two years in prison by a court in Egypt for allegedly posting 'indecent' dance videos on the video sharing app TikTok.

The women, including social media influencers Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three other women, who weren't publicly identified, have also been fined 300,000 Egyptian pounds each (~ Rs. 14,20,500) after they were found guilty of promoting immorality and "violating public morals." One of the women, Hossam, has garnered over one million followers on TikTok and Instagram so far. "The Economic Court in Cairo sentenced Mawada al-Adham and Haneen Hossam and three others to two years in prison and fined them 300,000 Egyptian pounds each. They are accused of violating the values and principles of Egyptian society and posting indecent photos and videos disturbing to public morals," a state-owned website reported. Regarding the arrest, Human rights lawyer Tarek al-Awadi reportedly said, "There is a technological revolution happening and legislators need to take into account a constantly changing environment."

A petition demanding the release of the five women has been signed by over 1500 people. "We are a group of women calling on state authorities to stop targeting women on TikTok. We call on the National Council for Women to provide legal support for Haneen Hossam, Mawada El-Adham, Menna AbdelAziz, Sherry Hanem, Nora Hesham, Manar Samy, Reenad Emad, Hadeer Hady, and Bassant Mohamed," the petition read.