Egypt detains dozens of teenage TikTok influencers, charging them with indecency and money laundering in a widening crackdown on social media.

Egyptian authorities have detained dozens of teenage TikTok influencers with millions of followers in recent weeks, accusing them of crimes ranging from violating “family values” to laundering money.

Police confirmed a wave of arrests and prosecutors say at least 10 cases of alleged unlawful financial gains are under investigation. Travel bans, asset freezes and device confiscations have also been imposed.

CBI News reports that critics argue the crackdown is part of a broader push by the state to tighten control over online speech in a country where social media has long offered an alternative to traditional state-dominated media. Lawyers say vague indecency laws give officials wide leeway to target content retroactively, exposing influencers to financial and criminal charges.

One high-profile case is that of 19-year-old TikTok star Mariam Ayman, known online as Suzy El Ordonia, who amassed 9.4 million followers. She has been jailed since August 2 on charges of distributing indecent content and laundering 15 million Egyptian pounds ($300,000). Her lawyer said indecency laws were being applied arbitrarily, adding that the country needs consistent rules across all platforms.

Many of those detained were young children when activists used Facebook to mobilise the 2011 protests that toppled long-serving president Hosni Mubarak. Today, their own use of social media has placed them at the centre of Egypt’s intensifying efforts to regulate digital spaces.