tiktok - The African Mirror

Sep

20

2020

U.S. LGBT+ TikTok users fear losing ‘safe space’ as Trump bans downloads

RACHEL SAVAGE U.S. LGBT+ TikTok users said they feared losing a popular community platform and valued "safe space" after the Trump administration announced it would stop Americans from downloading the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. The order, which takes effect on Sunday, only bans new downloads of the app, but TikTok said another restriction due to kick in on Nov. 12 would amount to an effective ban affecting existing users. TikTok, which has 100 million U.S. users, is widely used by young LGBT+ people to share niche jokes, find a date, and swap advice and stories about traumatic experiences such as being…

Sep

12

2020

By The African Mirror

China would rather see TikTok U.S. close than a forced sale – sources

WORLD

KEITH ZHAI, YINGZHI YANG and JULIE ZHU BEIJING opposes a forced sale of TikTok's U.S. operations by its Chinese owner ByteDance, and would prefer to see the short video app shut down in the United States, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. ByteDance has been in talks to sell TikTok's U.S. business to potential buyers including Microsoft and Oracle since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened last month to ban the service if it was not sold. Trump has given ByteDance a deadline of mid September to finalise a deal. However, Chinese officials believe a forced…

Aug

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt orders arrests after Instagram account exposes gang rape

NEWS

MENNA A FAROUK EGYPTIAN authorities have ordered the arrests of a group of men accused of being involved in a gang rape at a Cairo hotel amid a rare debate about sex crimes that started on social media and has fuelled a growing #MeToo movement. Lack of action over the 2014 incident, that was reported to have involved six men from powerful families, caused an uproar after being disclosed in July by an Instagram account with more than 180,000 followers that aims to expose sex attackers. The case came after the same Instagram account, Assault Police, named a university student…

Aug

26

2020

By The African Mirror

LGBT+ conversion therapy survivors share stories on TikTok

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE WHEN Mike Dorn told his parents he was gay, aged 15, they tried to make him straight by sending him to a Christian camp in California for three months, where he was told he would go to hell, forced to dig holes and pushed around if he disobeyed orders. Dorn's trauma came to the surface when he was confined to his home for weeks during a COVID-19 lockdown in the United States in June and he decided to share his story on TikTok. "I was going through a pretty dark time being at home all the time and…

Aug

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt’s sex assault accusations spotlight social stigmas

NEWS

MAI SHAMS ELDIN WHEN dozens of Egyptians began posting accounts of sexual assault on social media last month, activists sensed a "#MeToo" moment in a nation where women have long felt disadvantaged. Like high-profile trials in the United States where the now global women's rights hashtag took off, prosecutors launched charges in Egypt's best-known recent case: a student from a wealthy background facing multiple accusations. To encourage victims to come forward, the government approved a bill to better protect their identity. Yet when the administrator of the Instagram page that attracted the first testimonies tried to expose a second high-profile…

Aug

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Why some governments fear even teens on TikTok

MEDIA FREEDOM

CHRIS BARKER, Assistant Professor of Political Science, American University in Cairo IN Egypt, teenager Menna Abdel Aziz used social media to ask for protection after a sexual assault. She was arrested on a variety of charges, including misusing social media and corrupting family values. Two young women, Haneen Hossam, with 915,000 TikTok followers, and Mawada Eladhm, with 3.1 million TikTok followers, were also arrested for their social influencing videos. Renad Imad, another social media influencer, was arrested after allegations of posting indecent content and prostitution. In late June, belly dancer Sama El-Masry was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for posts…

Aug

03

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump gives Microsoft 45 days to clinch TikTok deal

WORLD

GREG ROUMELIOTIS, ECHO WANG and MATT SPETALNICK US President Donald Trump only agreed to allow Microsoft Corp to negotiate the acquisition of popular short-video app TikTok if it could secure a deal in 45 days, three people familiar with the matter have said. The move represents an about-face for Trump and prompted the U.S. tech giant to declare its interest in the blockbuster social media deal that could further inflame U.S.-China relations. Trump said on Friday he was planning to ban TikTok amid concerns that its Chinese ownership represents a national security risk because of the personal data it handles.…

Jul

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt‌ ‌jails‌ ‌five‌ ‌women influencers‌ ‌over‌ ‌TikTok‌ ‌posts‌

NEWS

MENNA A FAROUK AN Egyptian court has sentenced five female social media influencers to two years each in prison after finding them guilty of promoting immorality and human trafficking by encouraging women to make money building social media followings. The women, who were also fined 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($19,000), were accused of running online accounts that violated the values and principles of Egypt, a conservative Muslim nation. Haneen Hossam, 20, a Cairo University student, was charged over encouraging young women to meet men through a video app and build friendships with them, receiving a fee according to the number of…

Jun

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Egypt court jails belly dancer for ‘debauchery’ in social media crackdown

NEWS

MENNA A FAROUK A HIGH-profile Egyptian belly-dancer, Sama el-Masry, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,500) for inciting debauchery and immorality as part of a crackdown on social media postings. El-Masry was arrested in April during an investigation into videos and photos on social media, including the popular video-sharing platform TikTok, that the public prosecution described as sexually suggestive. The dancer, 42, denied the accusations, saying the content was stolen and shared from her phone without consent. Cairo's Misdemeanours Economic Court said she had violated family principles and values in Egypt as well…