Members of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces. (Credit: Hassan Ammar/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lynn Cheikh Moussa, editor-in-chief of local news website Beirut Today was summoned by the Internal Security Forces' Cybercrimes Bureau for an investigation next week, allegedly over a post on social media platform X, in which she accused an unidentified person of being a predator, Beirut Today stated on its social media on Thursday.
According to Beirut Today's statement, in December 2022, the platform posted an anonymous testimony about an alleged sexual abuse and privacy violation. A few days later, Cheikh Moussa received a call from the accused’s persons lawyer threatening to sue her and Beirut Today should they choose not to take the post down.
After consulting the victim, the post was ultimately removed from the website and Beirut Today's social media pages, the media platform said, adding that the lawyer did not contact Cheikh Moussa again.
Last month, Cheikh Moussa posted screenshots of the accused man's Bumble dating app profile on X (previously Twitter), stating that he is a predator and abuser who threatened to sue her and Beirut Today, the news outlet said.
Yesterday, Cheikh Moussa was called in for investigation over the post, Beirut Today added.
Both Cheikh Moussa and the ISF could not immediately be reached for comment.
In recent months, press freedom has come under attack in Lebanon, with reporters being summoned by the authorities despite the fact that according to law, journalist prosecuted in a publication case should only appear before the court of prints.
On Wednesday, journalist Mariam Majdouline Laham was interrogated for 11 hours by the Central Department of Criminal Investigations, before being released on bail, in a case related to accusation of corruption against a religious figure.
At the end of March, Jean Kassir, co-founder of the media outlet Megaphone News, was summoned by State Security. Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of the investigative media outlet The Public Source, was summoned by the Cybercrime Bureau.
In July, Lebanese journalist and television personality Dima Sadek was sentenced to one year in prison, following a complaint filed against her three years ago by the Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, who accused her of defamation and slander.