Senegal has jailed three TikTok personalities for insulting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, pushing freedom of expression back into the political spotlight as similar social-media cases in Ghana fuel a wider West African debate over the criminal punishment of offensive online speech.
The convictions matter beyond TikTok because they come as Faye faces scrutiny over freedom of expression while his rupture with former prime minister Ousmane Sonko reshapes Senegal’s political order. Rights groups have long argued that criminal provisions covering insult and defamation can discourage legitimate criticism of public officials.
TikTok posts lead to prison terms
Mandoumbe Diop, widely known online as Lamignou Darou, was sentenced to three months in prison without suspension, Reuters reported.
Diop is the most prominent of the three defendants, with more than half a million TikTok followers and videos that regularly attract tens of thousands of views.
Magueye Diaw, known as Oustaz Thiep, and Moustapha Ndiaye, known as Ndiaye Touba, were each sentenced to two months in prison, according to Feenal Digital, the online communications channel where the three men worked.
Their lawyer, Abdy Nar Ndiaye, argued that the posts were comedic and did not warrant criminal prosecution. Reuters reported that Diaw and Ndiaye were also fined CFA500,000 ($800).
Feenal Digital describes itself as a platform promoting government and private-sector activities.
Neither the company nor a Senegalese government spokesperson immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment.
The convictions have nevertheless revived debate over where legitimate protection against defamatory or abusive speech ends and disproportionate punishment of political expression begins.
Sonko split raises political stakes
The political circumstances surrounding the cases make them particularly sensitive.
Feenal Digital produces material that some observers regard as sympathetic to Sonko, the PASTEF leader and former prime minister whose once-close alliance with Faye has collapsed.
There is no evidence presented by Reuters that the three men were prosecuted because of their perceived political sympathies. The cases should therefore not be characterised as presidential retaliation without evidence establishing such a connection.
But the convictions come during an unusually tense political realignment.
Faye dismissed Sonko as prime minister in May after months of disagreement over government policy and Senegal’s deepening debt crisis. Sonko subsequently returned to a powerful institutional position when lawmakers elected him speaker of the National Assembly.
Faye then formally launched Kiiraay — Republican Patriots in July, cementing his break with Sonko and the PASTEF movement that helped sweep them to power together in 2024.
The rupture has left Senegal with two powerful former allies commanding increasingly separate political camps. PASTEF has meanwhile re-elected Sonko as its leader, reinforcing his position at the centre of the political movement from which Faye has increasingly distanced himself.
Faye faces a free-speech test
The convictions also renew scrutiny of the reform commitments that accompanied Faye’s rise to power.
Faye won the presidency after years in which he, Sonko and their supporters accused former president Macky Sall’s administration of suppressing dissent and using state institutions against political opponents.
His victory carried expectations of a different governing culture. After his election, Faye promised humble and transparent governance, placing accountability and institutional reform at the centre of his political message.
Reporters Without Borders says Senegal’s 2017 Press Code continues to allow heavy punishment for basic press offences, including imprisonment, despite Faye having pledged in his political programme to abolish custodial sentences for such offences.
The TikTok defendants are not conventional journalists, but the broader freedom-of-expression argument extends beyond professional newsrooms to activists, bloggers and citizens participating in political debate online.
ARTICLE 19, an international freedom of expression organisation that conducts legal and policy advocacy on media rights and access to information, has argued that Senegal’s criminal provisions covering defamation and insult are disproportionate and can produce a chilling effect on journalism and criticism of government.
Earlier prosecutions add to concerns
The three convictions are not isolated examples of Senegal using criminal law against speech involving its political leadership.
Amnesty International documented the case of commentator Abdou Nguer, who was convicted of insulting the head of state and sentenced to six months in prison, including three months to be served.
Former MP and opposition leader Moustapha Diakhaté was also convicted of insulting the head of state and sentenced to two months in prison, including 15 days to be served.
Such cases have reinforced concerns that criminal sanctions remain available when political expression is judged offensive to senior public officials.
