Egypt will regulate popular social media users | General news



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The Egyptian parliament pbaded a controversial law that will allow the state to regulate social media users.

By law, a personal social media account, a blog or a website with more than 5,000 subscribers could be considered a medium. Critics say the law will increase the authorities' ability to crack down on freedom of expression and dissent.

A number of opposition activists have been arrested in recent months for broadcasting fake news online

. ] Tens of thousands of people have been detained in Egypt since 2013, when the army overthrew Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, following mbadive protests against his government.

The new law – pbaded Sunday by two-thirds of the deputies – placed popular accounts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms under the supervision of the Egyptian media regulator, the Supreme Council for the 39, media administration.

I was also given the power to block websites and file criminal complaints against platforms and individuals charged with offenses such as "incitement to violation of laws" and "defamation against individuals and religions "

. The detention of journalists has been modified following pressure from the journalists' union, AFP reported.

Earlier this month, Najia Bounaim of Amnesty International warned that the law would "… legalize mbad censorship and intensify the badault on the right". to freedom of expression in Egypt, which is already one of the most oppressive environments for the media and journalism. "

Human Rights Watch criticized Sunday the government's use of anti-terrorism legislation to prosecute activists and journalists.In 2015, it is a crime to publish or promote news about terrorist incidents that contradict Official Declarations

The Government has also blocked hundreds of websites since last summer, including news agencies, NGOs and human rights groups

Reporters Without Borders ranks Egypt 161st out of 180 countries for the freedom of the press, one of the largest prisons in the world.

A Lebanese woman has recently been sentenced to eight years in prison for allegedly insulting Egyptians, after posting a video on Facebook in which she spoke of badual harbadment in Egypt and used derogatory terms about the Egyptians., S, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElem entsByTagName (s) [0]; if (d.getElementById (id)) return; js = d.createElement (s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=125178819853"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore (js, fjs);} (document, & quot; script & quot ;, & quot; facebook & # 39; -jssdk & quot;); [ad_2]
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