A Senegalese court has sentenced three TikTok content creators to prison after finding them guilty over social media posts deemed insulting to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
The case has sparked fresh concerns about freedom of expression and the limits of online speech in the West African country, particularly amid growing political tensions within Senegal’s ruling camp.
Mandoumbe Diop, popularly known as Lamignou Darou, received the longest sentence of three months in prison without suspension. Diop, who has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, is the most prominent of the three creators and is known for videos that regularly attract tens of thousands of views.
Two other creators associated with Feenal Digital, Magueye Diaw, also known as Oustaz Thiep, and Moustapha Ndiaye, known as Ndiaye Touba, were each handed two-month prison terms without suspension.
The pair were also ordered to pay fines of 500,000 CFA francs each, equivalent to about $800, according to their lawyer, Abdy Nar Ndiaye.
Ndiaye argued that the videos at the centre of the case were intended as comedy and did not warrant criminal punishment.
The three men are linked to Feenal Digital, an online content platform that produces material for social media and promotes activities involving government and private-sector institutions. The platform has also been described by some observers as being sympathetic to former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the PASTEF party.
The court ruling comes at a politically sensitive period for Senegal, following the deterioration of relations between Faye and Sonko.
The two men were once close political allies and played major roles in the rise of PASTEF. Their subsequent disagreement has exposed divisions within the country’s governing political movement.
Faye’s recent decision to establish his own political party has further highlighted the growing distance between the president and his former ally.
The imprisonment of the TikTok creators has therefore drawn attention not only to the treatment of critical online content but also to the broader political tensions shaping Senegal’s current political landscape.
