The Parliament’s Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee has approved a bill that aims to
expand the list of terrorist entities to include satellite TV channels, radio stations, social media outlets
and websites.
When it was proposed Reporters without Borders condemned the law, warning that the amendment
explicitly targets journalists, which will further deteriorate the already deplorable state of press freedom
in Egypt.
“In the event that the bill is adopted, the definition will include: associations, organisations, groups, or
audiovisual or audio channels, as well as radio stations, social media outlets and websites,” the
organisation said in a statement.
Sabreen al-Nawa, head of the Middle East office at Reporters without Borders, said: “This amendment is
very worrying because it links the media with terrorist entities. While the Egyptian authorities strangled
the press years ago by waving the terrorist threat paper, they are now ready to legalise this on the
ground.”
It is noteworthy that Egypt is ranked 163 (out of 180 countries) on the table of the world press freedom
rankings, published by Reporters without Borders last year.