The public prosecutor sent official letters to the communications and information technology minister, the interior minister and the head of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority on Wednesday ordering that they block pornographic websites.

Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud wrote that such websites show images that are contrary to the values and traditions of Egyptian society and the national interest, his spokesperson Adel al-Saeed said.

The State Council Administrative Court in May 2009 decreed that the government should ban porn websites. The court said such websites help spread vice, which destroys traditions, beliefs and morals, and therefore the country’s interests as well as social and national security.

But Tarek Kamel, former communications minister, said at that time that it was impossible to ban porn websites as control over them comes from the family, youth awareness and religious teachings.

Nour Party members on 8 February called for setting regulations to control media content before and after publishing, and several Facebook pages were created for the same purpose. One page created in February, called, “We want to ban porn websites in Egypt,” garnered more than 43,000 fans.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm