Rabat – A Moroccan court has decided to reduce the prison sentence for Moroccan YouTuber “Mi Naima” from one year to three months.
Moroccan television channel 2M reported the news today, quoting sources close to the case.
The First Instance Court in Casablanca sentenced Mi Naima to one year’s imprisonment for diffusing fake news about the novel coronavirus in Morocco.
Police arrested the YouTuber on March 19 for sharing a video in which she claimed that COVID-19 does not exist.
The Fez native also faced prosecution for inciting people to not comply with government orders and preventive measures imposed to tackle the spread of the virus.
The 48-year-old woman has more than 467,000 followers on her YouTube channel.
Following reactions condemning her behavior and her sharing of fake news, the woman posted another video in which she apologized to Moroccans.
Moroccan police have arrested scores of people for sharing fake news about the spread of COVID-19. The measure aims to ensure citizens’ sense of security and allow for an effective pandemic response, in favor of the Moroccan people.
Even before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Morocco, police mobilized to combat fake news after several videos with false content appeared online.
