An Instagram influencer has been sentenced to four and a half years’ jail for content deemed immoral, Tunisian media reported Thursday, and another four face trial in the same case.
Mosaique FM radio reported that the five — three women and two men whose identities were not disclosed — have been in custody since Monday.
The trial of the other four is set for next week.
They are being prosecuted for “harassment, intentional expression of obscenities and posing in ways deemed immoral or contrary to societal values, which could negatively influence young people’s behaviour”, Mosaique FM reported.
On Sunday the justice ministry urged prosecutors to “take necessary judicial measures and launch investigations against anyone producing, displaying or publishing data, images, and video clips with content that undermines moral values”.
A ministry statement condemned the increasing use of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to spread content “contrary to public morals”.
The decision sparked widespread debate, both on social media and in the press.
Some internet users condemned the spread of crude language and obscene images on social media, while others saw the ministry’s move as a new “restriction on freedoms”.
“Behaviour that might be considered mundane elsewhere could be viewed in Tunisia as blasphemous acts against societal values,” an article in the online magazine Nawaat wrote, citing as an example divergent opinions about a couple kissing in the street.
The magazine, which is highly critical of the government, said the arrests come amid “a climate marked by repressive restrictions on freedoms”.
