Oct 11, 2019

CAIRO — The anti-government demonstrations that broke out in a number of Egyptian governorates Sept. 20 were met with further restrictions on the press and other media, including the blocking of several international news websites, the denial of internet access and the hindering of social networking sites.

Netblocks, an Egyptian company that tracks online disruptions, reported Sept. 22 that major internet service providers in Egypt had begun to restrict access to some websites and that disruptions had hit several social media platforms and news websites, including the Arabic versions of BBC Arabic and Al-Hurra. It also reported widespread censorship of several news sites and restrictions on Facebook images by telecom providers Telecom Egypt and Raya Holding for Financial Investments. Netblocks emphasized that these restrictions undermine freedom of the press and the right of assembly and noted that the current responses come at a time when political opposition is being curtailed and protesters arrested.

Also among the foreign media outlets blocked were Hibr, a Jordanian website blocked after covering news of the Sept. 20 arrests of two young Jordanians that authorities believed were participating in the protests, and Arij.com, an investigative journalism network based in Jordan. In addition to the above restrictions, authorities also blocked Cloudflare, a service that protects users from cyberattacks.

The wave of sporadic protests from Sept. 20 to Sept. 27, with demonstrators calling for the resignation of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, were in response to videos released by the exiled contractor and actor Mohamed Ali, in which he accuses Sisi and his cronies in the military of “corruption and squandering public funds.” The videos went viral on social media. Ali's construction company long worked with the Egyptian military and is reported to have built palaces for Sisi.

Egyptian police forces responded to the protests with tear gas, rubber bullets and detentions, including arrests of journalists and scholars. Police detained Hasan Nafaa and Hazem Hosni, professors of political science at Cairo University, on Sept. 25. Khaled Daoud, a journalist and former president of the Egyptian Constitution Party, was also apprehended in addition to former presidential candidate Khaled Ali. All oppose Sisi and were arrested at their homes and charged with supporting a terrorist organization.