A Senegalese court has sentenced three TikTok influencers to prison terms and fined two of them after finding them guilty of insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in a case that has reignited debate over freedom of expression in the West African country.
The three content creators who work with online communications platform Feenal Digital were handed custodial sentences following their prosecution over TikTok posts considered offensive to the president.
According to their lawyer, the posts were intended as comedy and did not warrant criminal charges. He argued that the content creators should not have faced prosecution over satirical expressions shared online.
Mandoumbe Diop received the longest sentence of three months in prison without suspension. Diop, who has more than half a million followers on TikTok, is known for videos that often attract tens of thousands of views.
Two other influencers, Magueye Diaw and Moustapha Ndiaye were each sentenced to two months in prison without parole.
Reuters reports that Diaw and Ndiaye were also fined 500,000 CFA francs (about US$800) each.
The three men are associated with Feenal Digital, a platform that describes itself as producing content promoting government and private-sector activities. The platform has, however, been linked by critics to content that is favourable to the political movement of former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, leader of the PASTEF party.
The case comes at a politically sensitive time in Senegal, following tensions between President Faye and his former ally Sonko, who recently moved to establish his own political party.
The convictions have drawn criticism from free speech advocates, who argue that criminalising online commentary, especially satire, could threaten Senegal’s reputation as one of West Africa’s strongest democracies.
Authorities have yet to issue a detailed public response to the criticism, while Feenal Digital and government representatives have not immediately commented on the ruling.
