Under anti-terrorism pretences, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has been consistently making efforts to tighten the ropes on internet usage for the last few months. Less than a month ago, he ratified a ‘Cybercrime Law’ allowing authorities to take down sites the government considers a threat to national security.
The law has now been followed by another, this time putting focus on those with a social media following of over 5000—giving the authorities permission to supervise their internet activity.
Under the new ‘Media Regulation Law’, authorities will also be able to block any accounts that “publish or broadcast fake news or anything inciting violating the law, violence or hatred”.
Just like the previously passed legislation, the new law is aimed at combatting terrorism within the nation, however, el-Sissi’s recent string of laws has been met with criticism, with a number of organizations labelling them a violation of human rights.
