Parliment religious committe calls HCMR to block Salafist websites

CAIRO - 27 October 2018: The secretary of Parliament's Religious Affairs Committee, MP Omar Hamroush, called the Higher Council for Media Regulation (HCMR) to take immediate decisions to close all websites that belong to the Islamic movements, stressing that these sites represent a great threat to Egyptian national security.

“Under the new mechanisms that are placed for licensing news sites, it is necessary to make immediate decisions about sites belonging to the Islamic movements, stressing that these sites are working to attract young youth towards their ideas, and that it must be blocked immediately,” he added.

The Supreme Council for Media Regulation has set the license fee for operating an online publication at LE50,000 ($2,777), slated to be renewed every five years. Those who do not obtain a license within six months will be considered illegal and subject to punishment by authorities.

“Our goal is adjusting the media sector in Egypt. We are for ultimate freedom. We operate within the legislative framework regulating work,” the council’s Deputy Chairman Abdel Fatah al-Gebaly said in a press conference.

“Terrorist entities and others involved in sedition against the state will be deprived from licenses,” al-Gebaly added.

According to law no. 180/2018, online publications must indicate the name of the publication, the name of the owner and his/her address, the administrative and the editorial structures, the name of the editor-in-chief, and the location of the newsroom in the license application.

Former Dean of Mass Communication School at Cairo University Hassan Emad Mekawy told Egypt Today that Journalists’ Syndicate bill must be amended to allow those working for online publications eligibility for the syndicate’s membership as long as they are working for licensed institutions and carry bachelor degrees in journalism and mass communication.