How Egyptian law faces fake accounts on social media

CAIRO - 1 October 2019: Fake electronic accounts have recently spread on social media platforms and have been used in fraudulent or illegal activities.

Article 24 of Law No. 175 of 2018 on combating information technology crimes stipulates that anyone who creates an email, website or special account and falsely attributes it to another person shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than 3 months and a fine of not less than LE 10,000 and not exceeding LE 30,000.

In case the offender uses the postal, site or artificial special account in an abusive order, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period not less than ayear and a fine of not less than LE 50,000 and not more than LE 200,000.

In the same context, article no. 303 of Egypt’s Penal Code stipulates that the penalty of insulting or harassing using telecommunications equipment, whether via telephone, email or other means of communication on social media,leads to a fine of not less than LE 500 and not more than LE 20,000, lawyer Abdul Rahman Anani said.

Law enforcement investigators and prosecutors are currently focusing on the Electronic Crimes law, especially after the hacking of personal accounts of some famous personalities.

On May 29, the Egyptian authorities arrested a Lebanese citizen, namely Mona al-Mazbouh, over posting a video on her Facebook account talking about several situations that triggered her anger while spending her vacation in Cairo.

In June 2018, Egyptian Attorney General Nabil Sadek ordered to hold Mazbouh in detention for four days pending investigations over accusation of “insulting Egyptian people and the president”, amid calls from the Egyptian parliamentarians to bar her from entering Egypt.

Mazbouh also described President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as “unjust”, spitting on the Egyptians and insulting Egyptian women.

On May 11, security forces arrested AmalFathy Abdel-Tawab, who was reported to be a member of the April 6 Youth Movement. Abdel-Tawabwas detained for six days pending investigations over accusations of defamation, insulting the Egyptian state and assaulting Banque Misr employees.

Abdel-Tawab started a live video on her Facebook page, while angrily-telling a situation that happened to her as she was finishing the procedures of reactivating her bank account; she started to mention several bureaucratic situations that delayed the procedures for a long time.