ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A woman was arrested in Duhok for an alleged “misuse” of TikTok, a local official told Rudaw on Monday, bringing the tally of people arrested in the province for such charges to three in under a month.
Judge Hakim Abdulwahid, the public prosecutor of Duhok’s Sumel sub-district, confirmed the news of the arrest to Rudaw’s Ayub Nasri, without providing the name of the detainee or the nature of her arrest.
The public prosecutor claimed last month that he had prepared an evidence-backed list of TikTokers which he plans to use to file lawsuits against individuals on charges of violating the Kurdistan Region’s misuse of telecommunication devices law, which was passed in 2008.
Article 2 of the law states that anyone who uses cell phones or any other communication devices for the purpose of threatening, blackmailing, inciting crimes, or publishing personal information about someone to hurt their reputation, shall be sentenced to an imprisonment period no less than six months and no more than five years, in addition to a fine placed between one million to five million Iraqi Dinars.
Rupak Ahmed, member of the cultural committee of the Kurdistan Region parliament, said in August that they have filed requests for putting limitations on TikTok as “it harms the behavior of the community,” adding that the procedures will be carried by the public prosecutors.
Two other users were arrested late August for “speaking against religion and the community on TikTok and asking the youth to participate while also using vulgar and sexual language,” according Abdulwahid.
Hemin Sleman, the spokesperson for Duhok’s police claimed on Monday that the two people that were previously arrested have shown remorse and have stated that they did not know their actions were that impactful.
Article 22, section three of Iraq's cybercrime law punishes anyone that "uses computers and the internet to attribute terms, images, sounds, or any other means that include libel and insult to others" with up to two years in prison and up to a five-million dinar fine.
Human Rights Watch has previously criticized the law for threatening freedom of speech. The legislation has been used to target journalists and activists across Iraq.
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