Egypt’s administrative court has announced the blocking of Internet pornography websites, evoking suspicion that the country is making advances likened to that of the Sharia Law.
The outlaw of pornographic websites follows an investigation by Younis Makhioun, a representative of the ultraconservative Salafist Al-Nour party, who blames a number of social problems such as divorce, rape and corrupted youth on X-rated material.
“Instead of focusing on important issues affecting our country, Egyptian youth have become busy with lust,” Makhioun was quoted saying by Question More Live. “Just making it difficult for users to surf these websites will be a positive step.”
Makhioun has been backed by Telecommunications Minister Mohamed Salem who has confirmed the establishment of a committee to resolve this issue.
“Parliament will be represented in the committee,” Salem told Question More Live. “The issue is becoming persistent and worrying to families.”
The court’s verdict considers this as non-related to freedom of speech as this is a national priority rather than a question of citizen liberty. However, the government is being criticised for a lack in discernment regarding priorities. “Egypt has much more pressing issues to deal with than pornography […] (such as) social unrest and economic troubles,” states Question More Live.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) the cost of filtering systems to deploy these plans are too high for the Egyptian government budget.
Various activists and media publications are now buzzing about the possibilities of extreme censorship by the Egyptian government. “Censorship presumes that citizens are dumb and lack knowledge, and that the state must carry out that role for them because it knows better,” online activist Ramy Raoof was quoted by The Huffington Post as saying. “If you want to protect people from trouble, it is never through withholding information.”
Despite these threats of website suspension, News24 reported earlier this week that no definite action has been taken up to date to prevent Egyptians from accessing pornographic material on Internet. There are also uncertainties with regards to execution methods of the newly announced policies.
Under the leadership of the Muslim president Mohamed Mursi, Islamic influences are increasing in the government. The Egyptian public is still divided between moderates and Islam.
The Tunisian government has also established a similar law recently.
