It’s true —the personal is political. We see it especially in our actions and how we present ourselves on the internet. It is also, in some parts of the world, evidently illegal — especially for women. 

As we isolated ourselves due to the coronavirus pandemic during the first half of 2020, we turned to the internet for solace. A lot of us replaced real world connections with social media, seeking refuge in the lives of others online. In Egypt, some got sucked into the addictive world of TikTok, where several Egyptian women had amassed huge followings for their videos of them dancing , lip syncing to popular songs, or creating short comedic clips.

During that same time, Haneen Hossam, Mawada El-Adham, Menna Abdel Aziz, Sherifa Refaat, Nora Hesham, Manar Samy, Reenad Emad, Hadeer Hady and Bassant Mohamed were arrested for having committed the crimes of violating ‘family values’ and inciting “debauchery” in Egypt. These are the names released publicly of some of the women and girls who had the audacity to exist online and create content on TikTok. These are the ones we know of, the ones the government wishes to make an example of in its crusade to protect Egyptian “family values” by policing women and how they present themselves online. 

In July 2020, an online petition, which currently has over a quarter of a million signatures, was launched by a group of feminists along with the trending hashtag, #بعد_اذن_الاسرة_المصرية

 (#WithPermissionFromTheEgyptianFamily), to call out the ambiguous wording in Egyptian laws used to persecute women unjustly. These laws are being used to censor, detain, fine, imprison and ostensibly ostracize women at the whims of a patriarchal society that is backed by the state. This is the same society that went from consuming these women to collectively deciding they were putting the fabric of Egyptian society at risk. 

What It's Really Like to Be a Woman Online in Egypt

The common denominator that ties all of these TikTok stars with their supposed “crimes” and why many are outraged by the case brought against them is the complicated interplay between class, privilege and the demographic of their target audience. The content most of these women create appeals to a large segment of society — they unabashedly engage with Egyptian pop culture without self-censorship and in a way deemed too sexual by a conservative society that places notions of family and community “honor” on the shoulders of women.

While women across the board are being targeted for expressing themselves freely — from celebrities and famous dancers, to the average social media user or influencer with a large following or viewership — not all them have access to the same resources to defend themselves. The issue of class is complicated by social capital, as Marina Samir describes in her piece, "The Women of TikTok: Their Freedom is My Freedom." This social capital is not always tied to class and wealth, but rather connections within social networks that extend to the powerful and influential in our societies. This network allows those with access to it more leeway even when they commit similar transgressions, allowing them an existence on or off the internet that is disproportionate in freedom from those without this social capital or network. So in essence, we have a set of laws for the haves and a set of laws for the have-nots, based around a network of who-knows-who. This results in the full extent of the law, in all its ambiguity and ramifications, being used against the weakest in our society to subsequently instill fear in the rest of us — while those with the most power continue on as before shielded by their social capital.

Family Values and Anti-Cyber Crime Laws

The purposely vague inclusion of terms like “family values,” “debauchery” and “public morals” within the wording of many Egyptian laws allows for their misuse and misapplication. These terms are easily warped to fit any and all situations, and are used as a fear tactic and deterrent on Egyptian citizens from exercising their rights to freedom of expression. It allows for a dangerous precedent that penalises and criminalises anything that falls within its vast scope on the whims of those with power.

Following public demands for the Egyptian National Council for Women to step in and defend the rights of the TikTok women and girls, the council posted an infographic on its social media that marked its position without weighing in on the issue: that there was a hierarchy to who and what they defend; that not all women were equal or warranted the defense of their rights. It was a clear statement that anyone deemed as having violated the undefined and legally binding “family values” of Egyptian society would not be saved by the national council or any other governmental body. Quite the opposite, they would be made an example of.

This contentious term, “family values,” that is being lobbed at the TikTok stars appears in Article 25 of Law 175 on Combating Information Technology Crimes (also known as the Anti-Cyber Crime Law). It is a completely undefined concept but comes with the steep punishment of imprisonment for no less than six months and/or a fine of EGP 50,000 to 100,000 (approximately $3,000 to $7,000). As the make-up of the Egyptian family changes — increasing divorce rates, the rise of Gen Z, LGBTQ+ resistance and open existence, and more open access to information on the internet — this threatens the conservative understanding and view of “family.” Samir notes how the patriarchal and conservative structures of the state are reliant on being replicated within the family unit. It becomes a tool of control by the state to insist that its mechanisms are replicated on the micro level, utilising men and their fear of emasculation in the face of women breaking out from their assigned role within the “family” by expressing their sexual, personal or financial freedom. The family, and what it should be, then becomes weaponized by the state and the very people policing women are those closest to them.

The state decides the right and wrong way for women to make money online, but men exploiting women on the internet (or paying to exploit women) are allowed to do so without impunity. Those who raised the most complaints and called on the Public Prosecution to look into the TikTok women and girls were predominately, but not shockingly, men creating online content — direct competitors in these online spaces. This gives more power to the notion that women are to be viewed only in ways deemed socially acceptable, or at the very least in ways that men can control and have a say in, which compromises a fundamental civil right enshrined in the Egyptian Constitution — the freedom of expression. The Egyptian state has been called out on this, repeatedly, since the mass blocking of websites in 2017 and since enshrining the Anti-Cyber Crime laws that allow it to continue to this day. Human Rights Watch is blocked in Egypt, and two articles (Internet bringing new forms of violence against women and Egypt spate of morality prosecutions against women) I consulted in my research are inaccessible from Egypt without a VPN. Along with other independent journalistic sources and rights bodies, Human Rights Watch is deemed “harmful” by the very laws meant to protect and stop the spread of “fake” news in Egypt. 

The rhetoric follows that women with information, choice and agency are dangerous, and that men are to control and view women at their discretion and pleasure. When women claim their power, be it on the internet via TikTok or OnlyFans, they become a threat to society — but really they become a threat to patriarchal structures of dominance and control. When women assert their own autonomy, independence and financial power over the very men who have been told they inherently own us — in the home, within family structures and communities, our relationships and even in the street and public spaces that feel anything but open — that is when we become most threatening. Our bodies are never our own and the Egyptian state confirms this stance every time it chooses to implement vaguely worded laws to oppressively enforce on women it sees as “threatening” its social order.

Social Outlet, Financial Relief, and Unsafe (Online Spaces)

Financial independence for women, more than anything, threatens these structures. The internet is an equal opportunity employer, you can make your own fortune without any prerequisites other than stable connection. The internet is the great equaliser, you don't need any prior experience to engage with social media or to earn money from it. This is what makes it especially threatening to traditional gender roles in conservative societies, and the state’s stance has been to double down in all the other ways it can (including criminalizing mundane acts) to control women rather than to safeguard them from online predators or abuse. 

The surge in domestic violence during lockdown, combined with unemployment and the loss of jobs globally, places women in a particularly compromised position on top of the very real danger of being financially exploited and abused. Not only are they having to stay in unsafe domestic situations because they can’t afford not to, lockdown has also decimated their ability to seek financial independence and get out of harmful home situations. It makes sense, then, for women to turn to online means of making money for their own economic independence and physical safety.

The boom in video streaming and content creation means that more women are accessing online spaces and putting themselves out there, but still at a disparity, with men approximately 30 percent more likely to create and engage with content online than women. The main reason for this is that women don’t feel safe on the internet, being at the mercy of online harassment, threats, and if you’re in Egypt, the whim of anyone who deems you have insulted them or their conception of “family values.”

More and more research is being done around the fact that women are abused and vulnerable online. But you don’t have to look into the research to know this — just ask the women in your life about their experiences online. Do they exist fully? Do they have to carefully pick out their photos and curate an image so as not to be violated or attacked? Can they be their full selves, can they be queer and safe online, can they pose in bikinis or while exercising without being objectified at best and openly harrassed and shamed at worst? The answer to most of these questions is an uncomfortable and very valid “no.”

While personal and public freedoms continue to be dire in Egypt, we continue to resist and hope for change. The recent acquittal of Hossam, El-Adham and three others charged with violating “family values” is a small win — one dampened by Hossam and El-Adham subsequently being charged instead with human trafficking. One of the main issues that angers and continues to turn public opinion against the TikTok stars, is that they are not remorseful enough or publically asking for forgiveness, as many other women in similar situations have been. Why should this be the condition for freedom? Admitting your transgression and begging forgiveness from the patriarchal powers that be is considered the only way to re-enter Egyptian society. It lends itself to the misogynistic notion that only a magnanimous patriarch can forgive and redeem the honor of a “fallen” girl or woman, and allow her back into society only if he sees fit. So, while these women face continuing social and legal obstacles and have had their freedoms stripped from them, their steadfast mettle in not compromising their rights to freedom of expression and challenging the state’s decision to persecute them with vaguely worded crimes, fills me with hope that change, no matter how painful or slow, is not only crucial — but still possible.