French law enforcement arrested four social media influencers of Algerian descent this month on charges of promoting antisemitism and violence.
On Jan. 3, police arrested Youcef Aziria, 25, who goes by the handle “Zazou Youssef” on TikTok. He faces seven years imprisonment for allegedly supporting terrorism; his trial will begin on Feb. 24.
On. Jan. 4, police arrested “Imad Tintin,” 31, for allegedly posting a video where he advocated “burning alive, killing and raping on French soil.” His trial on charges of inciting terrorism starts on March 5.
On Thursday, France tried to deport to Algeria another TikTok user, Ami Boualem, 59, who uses the handle “Doualemn.” However, the North African nation refused him entry, prompting a return flight to France where authorities apprehended him in response to a video he had posted. His deportation reportedly arose from his advocacy of torturing an opponent of the Algerian government
Also on Thursday, French police arrested Sofia Benlemmane, a Franco-Algerian woman described as in her 50s. Law enforcement allege that she spread hate and threats online to her more than 300,000 followers.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the state could not “give a free pass to these individuals who spread hatred and antisemitism.”
Algeria is a former French colony that won independence in 1962 following seven years of war. Retailleau framed the arrests in the context of ongoing tensions between the two countries relating to Algeria’s detention since November of French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal.
“Algeria is seeking to humiliate France,” Retailleau said. “I think we have reached an extremely worrying threshold with Algeria.”
In 2012, Sansal won the Prix du roman arabe literary prize, but the prize money was withdrawn due to Sansal’s visit to Israel to speak at the Jerusalem Writers Festival in May of that year.
Sansal said, “I am glad I visited Israel and returned with great happiness.” He criticized Hamas, saying that it was a terrorist movement that “has taken Gazans hostage. It has taken Islam hostage.”
