Senegal Jails Three TikTok Creators Over Alleged Insults Against President
The three content creators were convicted of insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and fined after a court ruling.
- Three TikTok influencers sentenced to prison in Senegal.
- Court convicts them over content deemed insulting to the president.
- Lawyer says the posts were comedic and did not warrant prosecution.
A court in Senegal has sentenced three TikTok influencers to prison terms and imposed fines after convicting them of insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a decision that has sparked criticism from free speech advocates.
The three men are affiliated with Feenal Digital, an online media platform whose content has been described by some as supportive of former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, leader of the PASTEF party.
The convictions come amid political tensions following Sonko’s split from President Faye, who recently launched a new political party.
According to Feenal Digital, Mandoumbe Diop, popularly known as Lamignou Darou, was sentenced to three months in prison without suspension. Diop, who has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, is the most prominent of the three influencers.
The two others, Magueye Diaw, known as Oustaz Thiep, and Moustapha Ndiaye, also known as Ndiaye Touba, were each sentenced to two months in prison without parole.
Their lawyer, Abdy Nar Ndiaye, argued that the TikTok videos were intended as comedy and should not have resulted in criminal prosecution. He added that Diaw and Ndiaye were each fined 500,000 CFA francs (about $800).
Feenal Digital and a spokesperson for the Senegalese government had not commented on the ruling at the time of publication.
