The conviction of Mada Masr Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah highlights the persistent threat of how Egyptian authorities use licensing requirements, criminal penalties, and website blocking to silence independent journalism, despite constitutional guarantees of press freedom.
On October 27, in a trial marked by serious violations, the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of Egypt’s leading media outlets, fined Attalah 3 million Egyptian pounds (about US$54,000), and ordered the confiscation of its equipment for operating an unlicensed website. The outlet says it has repeatedly applied for a licence without success.
Egypt’s Supreme Judicial Council rejected allegations of procedural violations in Attalah’s trial and said she had waived her right to appeal, a claim the defense denies. The first appeal session is scheduled for November 25.
During her release procedures, Attalah also learned of an in absentia conviction issued against her in 2024, sentencing her to one year in prison on charges of disseminating false news and operating a website without a license. Her defense team has filed an objection to that judgment, and a hearing to review the case is scheduled for November 11.
Her case shows how Egypt has built and weaponized a series of laws to restrict, block, intimidate and jail journalists, and shut down media outlets.
Denied licenses and website shutdowns
Egypt’s Constitution guarantees the right to establish newspapers by notification under Article 70 and prohibits their closure or confiscation under Article 71, except in wartime and general mobilization.
But Media Law 180 of 2018 requires websites to obtain a license from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR), or face the penalties imposed on Mada Masr.
“The verdict against Mada Masr shows how Egypt’s media law is used to restrict media work, turning notification into a system of permission in which the state controls who has the right to run a media outlet,” said Mohamed Salah, chairman of an independent Egyptian outlet whose own license application was rejected and whose appeal has gone unanswered, Fakar Tany.
“The licensing process makes the problem worse. The executive regulations give the council 90 days to decide, but the clock starts only when the applicant has filed all required documents and the council confirms the file is complete”, which, Salah told CPJ, it often never does. “Missing the deadline has no consequence, unlike print newspapers, where silence counts as approval. An outlet that applies can wait years. An outlet that operates anyway commits a crime.”
The editor-in-chief of an independent outlet based in Egypt told CPJ, on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, that dozens of outlets remain without licenses.
“Mada Masr is not the only outlet denied registration. […] Many are afraid to speak publicly for fear of jeopardizing their requests. Approval often depends on other state agencies, not the council,” they said.
Al-Manassa applied for a license in October 2018, paid the fees, and received no reply. In June 2020, security forces raided its offices and arrested its Editor-in-Chief Nora Younis. She was held for two nights, questioned on a charge of running a website without a license, and released on bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about US$187). When the outlet reapplied in August 2020, it again received no reply.
Fakar Tany applied in July 2023, but was rejected in September 2024. Its appeal has not been decided on.
“Because we were denied a license, we might face two charges,” Salah said. “One is running a website without a license, which applies to the site’s legal representative. The other is impersonating a journalist, for those who work at the site, because they cannot register with the syndicate, since we are not a licensed outlet.”
Blocking outlets under the media law and the cybercrime law
A denied license can also be used to justify blocking. Article 6 of the media law also lets the SCMR suspend or block a site that operates without a license, with Article 19 extending blocking to personal websites, blogs, and accounts with 5,000 or more followers on grounds such as publishing “false news.”
Article 7 of Egypt’s Anti-Cybercrime Law adds a second route. It lets the investigating authority order a website blocked if there is evidence that it, whether based inside or outside Egypt, has published material that constitutes a crime under the law and threatens national security or the country’s economy.
“The media law gave the state two complementary tools: licensing and blocking. The state uses them together to decide who has the right to practice journalism,” Ahmed Gamal Ziada, editor-in-chief of the Egyptian independent outlet, based in Brussels Zawia 3, told CPJ.
Since 2017, Egypt has blocked several media outlets, including Mada Masr, Al-Manassa and, most recently, Zawia3, among others.
Ziada said Zawia3 was established in Brussels and registered under Belgian law in August 2023 because of the risks of practicing independent journalism inside Egypt. However, Egyptian authorities treat any platform addressing the Egyptian public as subject to its jurisdiction and allows the council to block foreign outlets.
“So the state demands a license we cannot obtain at all while we are outside the country, then punishes us for lacking it,” he said. “Our site is blocked inside Egypt, and we have received no decision, notice, or specific accusation we could respond to.”
“Blocking does not only deprive readers. It puts our journalists inside Egypt at risk,” Ziada told CPJ. “When the authorities deem a platform ‘unlicensed’ or ‘hostile,’ working with it becomes potential evidence of a crime.”
Salah told CPJ what is needed: “The state must approve media outlets’ license requests and amend Article 6 to be aligned with the Egyptian Constitution, so that outlets can be established by notification, as the Constitution guarantees.”
Ziada added: “We demand that the state stop using licensing as a tool of exclusion, announce any blocking decision with its reasons and allow a court challenge, and recognize that journalism written from outside Egypt is Egyptian journalism, not a crime.”
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Mohamed Mandour.