A Senegalese court has sentenced three TikTok influencers to prison for insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, putting the country’s increasingly influential online political space under scrutiny at a time of heightened tensions within its ruling establishment.
The three content creators, who are associated with digital platform Feenal Digital, were convicted on Thursday over videos posted about Faye, Reuters reported, citing their lawyer.
Magueye Diaw, popularly known as Oustaz Thiep, and Moustapha Ndiaye, known as Ndiaye Touba, were sentenced to two months in prison without parole and fined CFA500,000 ($890) each. A third contributor to the platform was also convicted.
Their lawyer, Abdy Nar Ndiaye, argued that the videos were comedic and should not have resulted in criminal prosecution.
The convictions would ordinarily amount to a relatively contained dispute over the limits of political commentary.
