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Tunisia: 'Moral values', the new pretext to repress freedoms

The arrest of influencers on morality grounds is part of President Saied's crackdown in Tunisia, where fear and self-censorship are on the rise
Tunisian Instagrammer Lady Samara was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for, among other things, swearing and making sexual remarks (Lady Samara/Facebook)
By MEE correspondent in Tunisia

The Tunisian authorities’ latest crackdown on civil society has hit internet content creators and online spaces in the name of preserving morality and social values, after campaigns targeting a wide range of activists, journalists and public figures.

Last autumn, at least 10 influencers and content creators, including some residing abroad, were indicted following a statement from the ministry of justice announcing prosecutions against anyone “producing, distributing or publishing images or videos with content that undermines moral values”.

The communique came after months of outcry and calls for arrests from users complaining about the spread of sexual and vulgar content made by influencers online.

Five of them have already been condemned to prison sentences, ranging from 18 months to four and a half years.

With more than a million followers, the Instagrammer Lady Samara was mostly known for her outspokenness, frequent outbursts and angry insults at advertising companies. A few months before her arrest, she had issued an apology, promising to no longer swear publicly. 

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Ramzi and Afifa, a recently married couple of humble origins, are also accused of swearing.

Choumoukh, a 24-year-old Tiktoker with 200,000 followers, was jailed because of her openness in discussing sexuality during live shows.

Khoubaib, a queer content creator, was prosecuted for defying gender norms and wearing make-up as a man. He was exposed to “all forms of abuse and ill-treatment”, according to Damj, a local NGO defending LGBTQ+ rights.

Translation: "Freedom for content creators."

The group denounced arrests “based on moralistic and reactionary articles reminiscent of the medieval inquisition”.

“Khoubaib said some swear words, but mainly he doesn’t correspond to the norm, in his way of talking and his clothing ... The law is so vague, it all comes down to the judge’s moral values. For the latter, Khoubaib can represent immorality,” content creator and queer activist Ramy Ayari told Middle East Eye. 

Vague morality laws 

Influencers were mainly prosecuted according to vaguely worded morality laws dating from 1964 and 2004, but also a 2001 cybercrime legislation that was used before the 2011 revolution to target bloggers and activists. Contrary to usual jurisprudence, they were punished multiple times for the same acts and therefore accumulated jail time.

“These prosecutions are based on laws that violate both the 2022 constitution and international standards,” Aymen Zaghdoudi, a university professor specialising in press law and media regulation, told MEE.

“None of the international conditions for limiting freedom of expression are met: the legal text is unclear and imprecise and the punishment received is neither necessary nor proportional to the infraction committed,” he added, arguing that long prison sentences are usually reserved for incitement to violence. 

'The ministry's communique created a state policy of prosecution of immoral content. These arrests are part of a systemic orientation, to restrain even more online spaces using various excuses'

- Aymen Zaghdoudi, university professor

Tunisia has multiple laws combating online crime and misinformation, including decree-law 54, which was adopted in 2022 under President Kais Saied to combat “fake news” and is infamous for silencing activists and opposition members.

“Judges have refused to use the only law, decree-law 115, that is compliant with international conventions and that respects freedom of expression,” Zaghdoudi noted. This piece of legislation, adopted in November 2011, protects journalists and their sources, enshrines freedom of speech and replaces jail time with fines for minor offences, such as misinformation or defamation. 

Morality laws have usually been used against members of the LGBTQ+ community, but also couples kissing in public, people eating or smoking during Ramadan, and blasphemous or “inappropriate” content.

However, since Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021, when he froze parliament and started dismantling the democratic advances made after the revolution, arrests based on these laws have increased and the sentences delivered are much harsher. 

Notably, this latest campaign against influencers has been the first attack on apolitical content creators.

For political researcher Khayreddine Bacha, this could be an attempt to replace “immoral content” with state propaganda, which has been heavily shared on TikTok and other platforms.

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The state’s new paternalist role as a self-appointed protector of moral values could also, in his opinion, help it gain legitimacy among conservative parts of society, in the aftermath of a presidential election held last October under conditions widely deemed unfair, which saw Saied re-elected with a historically low turnout.

Since 2019, the president has run on a populist, conservative and conspiracist platform, refusing equality in heritage between men and women, and claiming for instance that homosexuality is a western plot to destabilise society.

“The ministry’s communique created a state policy of prosecution of immoral content. These arrests are part of a systemic orientation, to restrain even more online spaces using various excuses, whether moral values or in other cases fighting against fake news, or hate speech,” Zaghdoudi explained.

Since July 2021, about 1,500 people have been prosecuted for their opinions or political activities, in what human rights group denounce as Saied’s autocratic turn.

In 2024, and especially during the run-up to the October election, Tunisian authorities “targeted members of civil society and the media who dared question [Saied’s] policies, effectively tightening the noose around Tunisia’s hard-won civic space,” Bassam Khawaja, MENA deputy director at Human Rights Watch, said earlier this month on the anniversary of the revolution.

“Every time the political situation is unstable, or there are food shortages, Saied manages to instigate a new crisis and a campaign of arrests,” Ayari argued. “Authorities want to give the reassuring image that this an Islamic state that will protect your values and your principles.”

'Everyone is terrified'

The arrest of the influencers, especially Lady Samara, triggered waves of support from fans. The hashtag #freeladysamara has been widely shared on social media, with influencers and an independent MP asking for clemency, as she will have to give birth in jail.

However, justice minister Leila Jaffel dismissed calls for her release, saying that there was “no such thing as an artistic prisoner in Tunisia”. 

Meanwhile, fear and self-censorship have spread among both influencers and users.

“The first two weeks, there was very little activity on Instagram. Everyone was scared and silent. Some influencers even stopped talking about feminine products, or raising awareness about sexuality in a scientific way,” Ayari told MEE.

'Everyone was scared and silent. Some influencers even stopped talking about feminine products, or raising awareness about sexuality in a scientific way'

- Ramy Ayari, content creator and LGBTQ+ activist

“They are aware of the previous campaigns against politicians, then journalists, then lawyers, and were terrified of being next,” the activist added.

Hamma Stories, a popular influencer with 1,5 million followers, shared his fears on Instagram.

“My family is scared. My mom thinks I am condemned for life,” he said in a video.

“People are shocked and heartbroken. Even if you want to say something, you can’t speak ... This never happened before, not under Ben Ali, not with Ennahda,” the young influencer added, referring to the party that dominated the Tunisian parliament from 2011 to 2021 and whose leader, Rached Ghannouchi, has been languishing in prison since April 2023. 

Douha Laribi, one of the biggest influencers across the MENA region, posted a sarcastic clip, declaring that she will no longer listen to any rap songs. “I am constantly checking the news to see updates. I’m just gonna delete all my TikTok videos,” she said.

“My lawyers check every day if there has been any procedure against me,” another influencer said, adding she had renounced her Tunisian citizenship to avoid prosecution. 

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“These influencers have been offered as scapegoats to scare off people,” Hamma Stories commented in another post.

“Please stop blaming other influencers for not speaking up. They’re all scared. It’s bordering on paranoia, some of them think the government is listening to them. Everyone is terrified,” he added.

Commentators questioned the wide scope of such an interpretation of the law, wondering if it could be applied to TV series, songs, films or theatre plays. Rappers also deleted some of their songs containing insults from social media platforms. 

“A lot of influencers deleted parts of their content. It starts with sensitive topics, but can extend to any topic pertaining to public affairs. People become reluctant to give any opinion or share news related to public affairs. If you see someone jailed for a post, you stop writing,” Zaghdoudi said.

Self-censorship has also hit viewers, as they could be prosecuted for simply sharing or liking content deemed illegal. 

“I have received messages from fans explaining that they will stop reposting my content and supporting me for fear of being targeted for sharing ‘immoral content’,” Ayari said.

'Facebook trials'

The influencers affair illustrates the authorities' exploitation of waves of hatred on social media in order to further restrict freedom of expression and satisfy supporters, according to Zaghdoudi.

Several opposition figures, journalists, migrant defenders or members of the LGBTQ+ community have been arrested or interrogated after hate campaigns on social media. 

“When supporters or pages affiliated with Saied call to prosecute a blogger or journalist, public prosecutors usually do. But the opposite never happens. We also didn’t witness prosecutions against those who spread hate speech against Black migrants, accusing them of killing, stealing or spreading various diseases,” the professor noted.

In February 2023, Saied accused migrating Sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia of participating in a “criminal plan” aiming to change the country’s demographics and its Arab-Islamic identity, leading to the spread of online hate speech and hundreds of physical and verbal attacks.

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“A lot of prosecutions start with people talking and sharing content on social media. Then a law or a campaign of arrests follows. It’s a new kind of trials, based on Facebook,” Ayari argued. 

In 2020, Lady Samara made numerous headlines because of homophobic comments, implying she would kill her daughter if she were a lesbian.

“She incited to violence against queer people. No one bothered her for this, and now she’s being arrested for a few swear words,” Ayari noted.

In fact, coinciding with the arrests of the influencers, the LGBTQ+ community has been the target of another wave of daily arrests and intimidation. Over just a month, after the justice ministry’s statement, 24 people were arrested and dozens subjected to house searches and police interrogations. 

“The political authority and the executive have launched a broad systematic campaign against members of the queer community and anyone who disagrees with their perception of social morality and freedom,” Damj said in a communique.

According to the group, the ministry’s statement “loosened the police’s hand and legitimised the subsequent arrest campaign”.  

At least three people have also been subjected to torture and sexual violence, through forced anal tests, during the same period.

'They would rather throw people in jail'

In a report entitled "Moral Values: A Trojan Horse to Violate Other Rights", NGOs EuroMed Rights and Intersection for Rights and Freedoms have denounced the violations of freedom of opinion and expression in Tunisia and the escalation of repressive practices under the guise of "protecting moral values".

The report highlights the repercussions of these policies on individual and public freedoms and the democratic character of the country, especially with Saied dismantling any guarantee of judicial independence.

As many states in the MENA region have turned to surveilling digital spaces and prosecuting users based on vague legislation about counterterrorism, national security or the preservation of public order and societal values, Zaghdoudi points to the necessary cooperation with social media platforms.

“The state should focus on platforms’ algorithms and business models to force them to avoid pushing dangerous or mediocre content. If we had an independent authority responsible for online content and a free media landscape, we could find common ground with these platforms,” he said. 

“Tunisian authorities could have contacted these social media platforms and asked them to restrict and take down this content,” Ayari agreed. “But they would rather throw people in jail.”

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