Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation has announced that news websites and other media outlets operating in the country must apply for work licenses.

Undersecretary of the council Abdel-Fattah El-Gabaly said during a press conference on Sunday that news websites have been given two weeks starting 21 October to apply for licenses.

El-Gabaly said that news websites must fill a form detailing the name of the website, its owner and his residence, the location of its offices, its editor-in-chief and its managerial and editorial hierarchy.

The websites are also required to pay EGP 50,000 in five-year licensing fees.

El-Gabaly said that these procedures aim to stop the spread of news websites set up by "enemy entities" like terrorist groups, which would be rejected by the council.

El-Gabaly added that the new requirement do not apply to state-owned websites.

The undersecretary of the council also stated that most of the news websites in Egypt operate without permits.

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