A person is holding a phone connected to the TikTok app. (Illustration photo by AFP)
On Jan. 13, First Investigating judge in Mount Lebanon Nicolas Mansour handed down an indictment against 20 people implicated in the child pornography case on TikTok, which came to light in April 2024.The case involves a criminal network allegedly led by individuals accused of luring minors who were then raped, drugged and filmed. The victims were subsequently threatened and blackmailed when they attempted to break free.The organization’s leaders are also accused of monetizing the videos, generating illicit profits they allegedly laundered.The charges against eight members of the network, including two minors at the time of the events — Mohammad Siraj Akturk (born in 2006) and Mohammad al-Jamali (born in 2007) — and a young woman, Ghadir Ghinwa (alias Gigi, born in 2004), are based on more than a dozen articles of the penal code.The...
On Jan. 13, First Investigating judge in Mount Lebanon Nicolas Mansour handed down an indictment against 20 people implicated in the child pornography case on TikTok, which came to light in April 2024.The case involves a criminal network allegedly led by individuals accused of luring minors who were then raped, drugged and filmed. The victims were subsequently threatened and blackmailed when they attempted to break free.The organization’s leaders are also accused of monetizing the videos, generating illicit profits they allegedly laundered.The charges against eight members of the network, including two minors at the time of the events — Mohammad Siraj Akturk (born in 2006) and Mohammad al-Jamali (born in 2007) — and a young woman, Ghadir Ghinwa (alias Gigi, born in 2004), are based on more than a dozen articles of the penal...