Coptic Christian YouTuber sentenced to 5 years in Egypt over faith-based online videos

A person has been sentenced to 5 years in prison with hard labour in Egypt after posting online videos about Christianity, in accordance with Christian legal advocacy group ADF International.

Augustinos Samaan, a Coptic Christian scholar and content creator with greater than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, was convicted under Egypt’s blasphemy laws for videos defending and explaining the Christian faith.

According to ADF International, Egyptian authorities charged him under Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code – a provision commonly utilized in blasphemy-related prosecutions. 

He also faced accusations of “misuse of social media” and “contempt of faith,” offences linked to content considered insulting to Islam.

Samaan lodged an appeal on April 24 in an effort to quash the ruling on the grounds that it’s a violation of his religious freedom.

Condemning the ruling, ADF’s Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom Kelsey Zorzi said: “Prosecuting Augustinos’ peaceful expression is a transparent violation of non secular freedom. Sharing content about your faith online should never result in criminal punishment.”

She urged Egyptian authorities to overturn the conviction and release Samaan, arguing that freedom of faith and freedom of expression are fundamental rights that have to be protected.

ADF International said Samaan was initially detained in October 2025 over videos it described as “largely academic,” a lot of which sought “to reply common questions on Christianity.” 

Some also examined theological and philosophical differences between Christianity and Islam.

The group said his case reflects a wider pattern of accelerating enforcement against online Christian religious speech in Egypt.

Ms Zorzi commented: “The Egyptian government is increasingly monitoring the net activity of Christians and other religious minorities, while more persons are being imprisoned simply for expressing their beliefs through social media. 

“We call on the government to reverse course and honour its commitments to guard religious freedom and freedom of expression.”

Reports say scores of individuals have been detained under blasphemy laws over religious material shared online since August 2025, including Christian converts, young social media users discussing their faith, and individuals partaking in religious debate or criticism.

Christians are estimated to make up between 10% to fifteen % of Egypt’s population, but rights groups say many proceed to face systemic discrimination, violence, detainment and legal pressure despite constitutional protections for freedom of faith.

ADF International also pointed to the case of Abdulbaqi Saaed Abdo, a Christian father of 5, who had earlier been jailed for expressing his faith in a Christian Facebook group.

Following support from the organisation, he was freed and safely resettled abroad.