Senegal Jails 3 TikTok Influencers for Insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye
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- A Senegalese court sentenced three TikTok influencers from Feenal Digital to prison over content deemed offensive toward President Faye
- Mandoumbe Diop, the most prominent of the three with over half a million TikTok followers, received the stiffest sentence of three months
- The TikTok influencers' lawyer argued in court that the videos were comedy content and did not warrant criminal prosecution
A court in Senegal has handed down prison sentences to three TikTok influencers after finding them guilty of insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in a ruling delivered on Thursday, 6 August 2026.
Source: Facebook
The three men — all affiliated with online communications platform Feenal Digital — were prosecuted over TikTok videos that authorities deemed offensive toward the head of state.
Sentences handed down
Mandoumbe Diop, widely known by his online alias Lamignou Darou, was given the harshest sentence of three months in prison without suspension.
Diop is regarded as the most prominent of the group, with a TikTok following of more than half a million people and videos that regularly attract tens of thousands of views.
His co-defendants, Magueye Diaw, known as Oustaz Thiep, and Moustapha Ndiaye, popularly called Ndiaye Touba, were each sentenced to two months in prison without parole, according to Feenal Digital.
The court also imposed fines of 500,000 CFA francs, approximately $800, on Diaw and Ndiaye.
Lawyer defends the content
The trio's legal representative, Abdy Nar Ndiaye, pushed back against the court's findings, maintaining that the TikTok posts in question were intended as comedy and should not have attracted criminal charges.
The lawyer described the content as humorous in nature and argued it did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution.
Feenal Digital, which describes itself as a platform promoting both government and private-sector activities, confirmed the outcome of the hearing on Facebook.
A separate video posted on the same platform featured the lawyer confirming the sentences.
Political backdrop
The case unfolds against a charged political backdrop in Senegal.
Feenal Digital has been described by some observers as sympathetic to former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the PASTEF party.
Sonko and President Faye were previously political allies before a public falling out, with Faye subsequently launching his own political party.
The prosecution of the three influencers has drawn attention to the limits of online expression in Senegal, particularly where content involves criticism of the country's leadership.
The Facebook post announcing the case is below.
Ghanaian TikToker arrested over insults to president
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team arrested 49-year-old Rita Konadu in the Ashanti Region on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.
The TikToker allegedly made derogatory comments about President John Dramani Mahama and First Lady Lordina Mahama in a TikTok video.
Authorities are transferring Mamaone to Accra for further interrogation as the case sparks debate about free speech online.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
