All Content Related to Egypt

Egypt

evan — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:22:31 -0400

Background

Freedom of the press and freedom of expression have traditionally faced severe limits in Egypt, particularly in the spheres of religion and politics. July 2006 amendments to Egypt’s Press Law left intact provisions that criminalize criticizing the president or the leaders of foreign countries, or “spreading false news.” Although local bloggers and human rights organizations now routinely use the Internet to cross the “red lines” that formerly circumscribed public speech, the Egyptian government monitors online communications and, in some cases, has harassed and detained people for their online activities. Though no laws specifically empower the Egyptian government to filter Web sites, provisions of the Penal Code and the Emergency Law (effective since 1981)1 provide the government with broad authority to restrict and monitor communications. Although many journalists do criticize the government without repercussion, the government has detained and beaten several journalists in 2006.

Internet in Egypt

Since introducing Internet service in 1993, the Egyptian government has embarked on an ambitious program to expand Web access. The country has about five million Internet users, making up approximately 6.75 percent of the total population.2 The government’s “Free Internet Program,” which allows any Egyptian with a computer, a modem, and a phone line to access the Internet for the price of a local phone call, has led to a sharp rise in Internet use and has served as a model for other developing countries.3 As only 3.78 percent of people own personal computers,4 most users gain access through one of Egypt’s four hundred5 Internet cafés, a Mobile Internet Unit,6 or nearly 1,300 public information technology clubs.7 These clubs allow users to access the Internet for a small fee; they are affiliated with the Ministry of Communication and located in public buildings such as schools.8 In 2004 the “PC for Every Home” initiative helped 120,000 people obtain a personal computer through a combination of low-cost hardware and government financing.9 The government is experimenting with WiMax technology that could provide vast areas of the countryside with high-speed, wireless access.10 Despite all of these efforts, Internet access remains most prevalent in the cities.11

Egypt boasts the largest fixed-line communications network in the Arab world. Where many nations in the region are serviced by state-owned companies or monopolies, Egypt has licensed four Internet carriers and eight data service providers, along with hundreds of Internet service providers (ISPs).12 Service is currently provided by 211 ISPs, the largest of which are LINKdotNET, a private company founded in 1992, and TEData, the Internet arm of the state-owned communications giant Telecom Egypt, which is slated for privatization in 2007. In 2004, the government, along with nine companies, introduced ADSL service to Egypt. As of 2006, the service had approximately 130,000 subscribers at an average monthly cost of 95 Egyptian pounds (USD17).13 In 2007, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) is expected to issue two new licenses for international telecommunications services, and the country has recently liberalized the Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) market.14

Legal and regulatory frameworks

Despite Egypt’s progressive attitude toward industry regulation, the Egyptian government continues to rely on legal and extralegal measures to restrict the flow of information. Egypt’s Emergency Law allows authorities to detain individuals without charge or trial for prolonged periods of time and to censor, confiscate, and close down any publication that the Ministry of Interior sees fit.15 This law has been renewed for successive three-year periods since President Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981. Although in his re-election campaign Hosni Mubarak said he would replace the Emergency Law with an anti-terrorism law, in May of 2006 parliament extended the Emergency Law for another two years while the government drafts the new law.16

Much-anticipated amendments to Egypt’s Press Law, which Mubarak signed in July 2006, struck many of the old law’s most controversial provisions. However, it left intact prison sentences for journalists who criticize the president or foreign leaders, or who “spread false news.”17 The laws cover print and “other” publications, which courts have interpreted as including online writings.18

Although there is no law that explicitly empowers the government to block Web sites, a 2006 court decision maintained that the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology is permitted to “block, suspend or shut down any website liable to pose a threat to national security.”19 This ruling gives the Department for Confronting Computer and Internet Crime, a special unit within the Ministry of Interior, additional tools to pursue Web sites deemed “threatening,” and some worry that such pursuit is escalating.20

In January 2007, the Ministry of Interior announced plans to propose an international initiative to combat terrorism online. No Web sites are currently blocked outright, but security officials monitor data traffic, including e-mail, blogs, bulletin boards, and other Web sites. Internet café owners have reported that security officials have instructed them to keep lists of their customers and the customers' identification numbers.21 Furthermore, Internet café owners must seek a license from the Ministry of Telecommunications;22 those without licenses can be shut down.23 Owners are sometimes given lists of people who are to be banned from using their cafés, and they are always supposed to check IDs; some places have signs that “announce ‘No entry to political or sexual sites by order of the State Security.’”24

The government has arrested online writers for their online activities. In 2003, for example, State Security officers detained activist Ashraf Ibrahim on charges of “spreading false news” for e-mailing accounts and photographs of police violence at anti-war demonstrations to international human rights organizations. On February 22, 2007, a criminal court in Alexandria sentenced 22-year-old blogger Abd al-Karim Nabil Sulaiman to four years in prison on charges of “vilifying Islam” and “insulting the president.”25 The Egyptian government has also used the Internet to entrap men engaged in consensual homosexual conduct. Though it is not officially against the law to engage in homosexual acts, dozens of men have been charged with “debauchery” or “distributing obscene material” after chatting with police who were posing as gay men online.26

ONI testing results

ONI conducted in-country tests in fall 2006 and found no evidence of Internet filtering in Egypt. In 2005, most ISPs blocked http://www.ikhwanonline.com, the official site of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition movement. At one time, the popular ISP LINKdotNET blocked http://www.alshaab.com, the Web site of the Labor Party’s biweekly newsletter, but no longer does.27

Though there have been reports that Web sites for the Muslim Brotherhood are regularly blocked, neither the official Web site for the Muslim Brotherhood, ikhwanonline.com, nor the unofficial ikhwanweb.com, were blocked when the testing was conducted.

A number of ISPs also offer optional filters that block pornography; TEData offers a “Family Internet” plan that filters pornography and dating sites. Some of these packages restrict blogs and other Web sites as well.28

Conclusion

Internet users in Egypt have unfettered access to the Internet, but the government monitors online activities and has prosecuted online writers. Bloggers have reported instances of harassment and intimidation on the part of security forces.

NOTES

1. BBC World News. Country Profile: Egypt. Last updated January 22, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737642.stm.
2. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
3. Deborah L. Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world: Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004, http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arabworld_all_txt.htm ; Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Arab Republic of Egypt, “Telecom Reform Milestones,” http://www.mcit.gov.eg/tele_Mileston.aspx.
4. International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
5. As of 2004, Deborah L. Wheeler. “The Internet in the Arab world: Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004, http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arabworld_all_txt.htm.
6. Set up with the help of the United Nations Development Programme. Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, “Access for All,” http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx.
7. Information & Decision Support Center, “Statistical Indicators about Egypt,” January 16, 2007, http://www.idsc.gov.eg/Indicators/IndicatorsResult.asp?rIssueCategory=1&....
8. Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, “Access for All,” http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx.
9. Egypt at WSIS, “Partnering for Success,” http://www.egyptatwsis.com.eg/pppict.asp ;
Colleen Taylor, “Intel unveils WiMax network in rural Egypt,” Electronic News Network, December 18, 2006, http://www.edn.com/article/CA6400848.html?partner=enews.
10. CIT Egypt, News Room, “Egypt to be the first in the WIMAX technology,” March 1, 2007, http://www.citegypt.com/press.asp?delta=88.
11. The Mobile Internet Unit is a bus equipped with computers that can travel to remote areas to provide temporary Internet access. Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, “Access for All,” http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx ; Deborah L. Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world: Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004, http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arabworld_all_txt.htm.
12. TradeArabia, “Egypt telecom set for massive growth,” January 7, 2007, http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snIT_article117205_cnt.htm....
13. Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,” November, 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm.
14. Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., “Egypt: Convergence, broadband and Internet markets,” December 6, 2006, http://www.budde.com.au/publications/annual/contents/2006-African-Broadb....
15. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Journalism in Egypt: Caught Between Laws and the Government, July 12, 2006, http://www.eohr.org/report/2006/re0821.shtml.
16. Al Jazeera, “Egypt extends emergency law,” May 4, 2006, http://english.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=22418.
17. Emergency Law 147/2006.
18. On January 22, 2007, for example, Alexandrian blogger Abd al-Karim Sulaiman Nabil was sentenced to four years in prison for "insulting Islam and the President." See Associated Press, “Egyptian blogger’s lawyers appeal his four years prison sentence,” February 26, 2007, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/26/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Blogger.ph....
19. Sarah El Sirgany, “Al-ahram reverses Internet block on blogs,” The Daily Star, August 15, 2006, http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2615 ; and Reporters Without Borders, “Court upholds government’s claim to be able to block opposition Websites,” June 27, 2006, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18136.
20. Negar Azimi, “Bloggers against torture,” The Nation, February 6, 2007, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070219/azimi.
21. The Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, “Egypt,” November 2005, http://www.openarab.net/en/reports/net2006/egypt.shtml and Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,” November 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm.
22. The Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, “Egypt: Disputes between Ministries of Telecommunications and Culture on Internet cafes are settled; Ministry of Telecommunications is entitled to license Internet cafes,”
http://openarab.net/en/net/net1912.shtml.
23. Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,” November 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm.
24. Negar Azimi, “Bloggers against torture,” The Nation, February 6, 2007, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070219/azimi.
25. Carolynne Wheeler, “Young blogger jailed in Egypt; Chill envelops online dissent,” Globe and Mail, February 3, 2007, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070302.EGYPT02/TPStor....
26. BBC News, “Egypt crackdown on homosexuals,” March 6, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/1858469.stm ; Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,” November 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm ; and U.S. State Department, Human Rights Country Report: Egypt 2005, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61687.htm.
27. Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,” November 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm.
28. The Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, “Egypt,” November 2005, http://www.openarab.net/en/reports/net2006/egypt.shtml.

Facebook Faceoff

kanu — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:47:39 -0400

As spite spurs activism among the nation’s youth, Egypt contemplates banning Facebook- the infamous Social Networking Site (SNS) that has taken the country by storm.

The rising food prices and consequential rise in cost of living in Egypt has caused a great deal of unrest, especially in the lower strata of society. Interestingly, though, it is the middle and upper classes that have been using the Internet (namely social networking sites) and other digital goods as a medium to organize protests and strikes comprising of over 80,000 people. Despite the class divide that is apparent in the Egyptian social structure, it seems that their mutual dislike of the governing system has united them, and thus instilled the use of Facebook and other social networking sites as a means to ‘spread the word.’

In a Los Angeles Times’ op-ed, Sherif Mansour (of the US based human rights group Freedom House) wrote that the Egyptian government is considering blocking Facebook soon; a site that the Egyptian government heeds as an eminent threat to the ruling National Democratic party. Mansour praises Facebook’s ability, or rather the medium it provides for activists, to mobilize and engage massive numbers of young Egyptians. This was confirmed by the crucial role the site played in recent protests against textile workers’ salaries and soaring food prices. Facebook is lauded for having opened real space for media and also for providing a venue for secular activists- as opposed to the Islamist opposition representing the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The opinion of the Egyptian government, however, differs. Facebook and other social networking activists are being targeted by government-based media campaigns defaming the website and the youth activists who use it. In fact, Egypt has the third highest number of Facebook users - after the U.S. and Canada – but this has not gone unnoticed, and so the deliberation on banning the site altogether continues.

Thus, the government and its state-run media are lashing out against what Mansour describes as the “Facebook movement” and authorities have jailed dissidents like Ahmed Maher who was also tortured for his activities. Young activists have flocked to the site to choreograph widespread protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s 27- year rule as it is the perfect tool for them to voice their opinions, especially in a country that outlaws gatherings of more than five people. With the use of blog sites, Facebook and YouTube, their messages can now be projected not only within the country but also globally.
“They [the government] were horrified by Facebook because it was something totally new that they could not control,” says Nadia, a key promoter of a recent day-long general strike in which three protestors were shot dead and 400 were jailed, including her.

For now the government is only contemplating and hasn’t, as yet, taken any immediate actions to carry out their threats. The only thing that can be stopping them, it seems, is the outrage that will occur with the banning of such a popular site or the fact that many commercial businesses and companies in Egypt use the site to attract consumers and would suffer heavily if it were to be banned.

But is that enough reason to stop the government? Well, that is yet to be seen.

-Kanupriya Tewari

Egyptian lawsuit to block ONI's Web site

ONI-MENA — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:52:22 -0400

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) reported in a press release issued May 10 that an Egyptian judge demanded in a lawsuit blocking access to 50 Web sites, the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) Web site is among them.

According to the press release, the lawsuit stated that "the websites are terrorist and blaspheme Egypt and Arab leaders' reputation and brings offense to the president of the republic"

The judge also filed a lawsuit against the HRinfo's Executive Director and other people for allegedly blackmailing and forcing him to publish information defaming Egypt's reputation.

The press release lists the 50 Web sites

BBC: Egypt blogger jailed for "insult"

ONI-MENA — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:49:20 -0500

An Egyptian court has sentenced a 22-year old blogger to four years in prison for insulting Islam and the president on his blog, BBC reported.

The blogger had criticized the country's top Islamic institution, al-Azhar University and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator.

“This sentence sets a chilling precedent in a country where blogs have opened a window for free speech,” said Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

Egypt arrests blogger for anti-Islamic remarks

nart — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:21:44 -0500

A 22-year-old student blogger was arrested by Egyptian security forces for Arabic postings critical of Islam and the government.