Angolan social media influencer Ana da Silva Miguel, also known as Neth Nahara, has had her prison sentence increased to two years for “insulting” President João Lourenço on TikTok.
Initially, she was sentenced to six months in August, but an appeals court deemed this too lenient.
Ms. Miguel accused President Lourenço on TikTok of causing “anarchy and disorganization” and held him responsible for issues like the lack of schools, housing, and employment in Angola.
President Lourenço, who was re-elected last August, belongs to the MPLA party, which has been in power since Angola’s independence in 1975 and has faced allegations of running a repressive regime.
The appeals court in Luanda, the capital, cited the offensive nature of Ms. Miguel’s comments against the president and her significant influence on public opinion as reasons for the harsher sentence.
Despite her plea for leniency as a first-time offender and a mother of young children who expressed regret for her remarks, the court dismissed her request and ordered her to pay President Lourenço $1,200 (£1,000) for “damage” to his reputation.
Ms. Miguel, who has over 230,000 TikTok followers and garners thousands of views on her videos, is the first person in Angola to be convicted for content posted on TikTok, according to her lawyer.
The ruling is final, as appeals to the Supreme Court are only allowed for sentences exceeding three years.