Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Egypt's New Social Media Law Now in Full Effect

In an attempt to have control over ‘fake news’ and the spread of violence, President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi has officially ratified a new ‘social media’ law.

Staff Writer

Last July, two thirds of the Egyptian parliament had approved of a new law stipulating that social media users or pages with over 5,000 followers were to be monitored closely by the Egyptian Media Supreme Council.

We’ve waited for a long time, and now the verdict is out – as of Saturday, the new ‘social media’ law has officially been ratified, according to the Official Egyptian Gazette.

Users with over 5,000 followers will now be monitored by the Supreme Council for Media; if users spread any ‘fake news,’ or use their pages to incite acts of rebellion or violence, then the page will be either suspended or blocked. The person responsible for the page might either be sentenced to prison, or fined a substantial sum of money.

The law is also applicable to those who visit the website “in error without a valid reason,” according to Egyptian Streets.

Main image from The New Arab.