Popular Kuwaiti actress Haya Al-Shuaibi detained after posting 'pornographic video'

The move came after video of pornographic nature was posted on one of her social media accounts, where she boasts more than 3.5 million followers. 

The video was deleted after three minutes with popular Kuwaiti influencers suggesting it had been posted onto her “story” feature by mistake instead of being sent privately to her friends.

The actress is being held by the Kuwaiti Public Prosecution pending further investigation into the matter.

Kuwaiti authorities keep a tight watch on influencers and popular accounts in the country.

In August, an Iranian social media influencer was arrested in Kuwait over allegations of "insulting God" in a comedy skit posted on his social media account.

Shahab Murtadha Ghafouri, a popular blogger with more than 1.1 million followers on Instagram, was detained over a video showing him clearly acting in a comedy skit with an actress on a hospital set.

"If you go to paradise, tell God to let me enter too," he tells the patient.

The video was posted on his Instagram account on 24 May and viewed more than 560,000 times.

The lawyer who filed the complaint said he did so "to preserve religious principles and in an effort to put an end to such shameful behaviour" he told Al-Anba.

He added the defendant "made a mockery of the divine, which necessitates taking the strongest legal procedures".

More recently, Kuwait's Public Prosecutor Dherar Al-Asousi ordered a freeze on the assets and bank accounts of ten social media influencers.

They were also slapped with a travel ban preventing them from leaving the country as authorities investigate their sources of funding, over concerns of money laundering.

Kuwaiti media reported that "the decision of the Public Prosecutor comes against the backdrop of the complaint submitted by the Financial Investigation Unit against the influencers, after it became apparent that their bank accounts were inflated and suspected of being involved in a wider money laundering ring".

Kuwait's Public Prosecution had received complaints against five social media influencers, after their bank accounts dramatically inflated, local media reported.

One source said the bank account of a suspected influencer was shot up to to KD20 million ($65 million), while other suspected influencers had their accounts going up to KD10 million ($32.5 million).

Local reports alleged that the influencers in question had been using a leading Kuwaiti beauty e-commerce platform to launder money. The founder of the platform is among the ten being investigated.

A list naming the ten suspects was published by Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas:

1. Fouz Al Fahad
2. Abdul Wahab Al Essa
3. Dana Al Tuwarish
4. Mishari Buyabis
5. Halema Bouland
6. Maryam Reda
7. Farah Hady
8. Jamal Al Najada
9. Shifa Al Kharaz
10. Yaqub Boushehri

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