In recent times, the Egyptian Government is exerting a remarkable effort to improve and develop the legalities of the media and press laws and regulations. There are four new laws that shall be issued during 2018, three of which fall under the same umbrella, regulating media and press, and another that regulates social media.

The aforementioned laws are still under review by Egyptian authorities, and shall enter into force within three month from the date of being published in the Official Gazette.

Social Media Draft Law

The new Social Media Draft Law aims to monitor the usage of social media in Egypt by creating new Egyptian-based social networks, in other words, this law suggests creating, for example, a new-Egyptian Facebook, registration for which shall require the users' national identification number and shall be available to Egyptians that are 18 years or older.

Said draft law also suggests forming a committee in the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority ("NTRA") that would be responsible for the supervision and monitoring internet service providers. It also imposes serious penalties and sanctions on any user that creates a fake account or that tries to hack another user's account

It is to be noted that said law is still a draft, and there are no assurances that it will be published due to the difficulties the government and official authorities would face during implementation. Moreover, in the event that said law is actually issued, it would, at least, differ from the draft law published at the moment.

Draft Laws Regulating Media and Press

The new draft laws regulate the performance of the main three media bodies; the Higher Council for Media Regulation ("HCMR"), the National Press Authority ("NPA"), and the National Media Authority ("NMA"). Said laws aims to mitigate some of the complications in Law No. 92/2016 regulating media in Egypt, which proved to be unclear as to the responsibilities of each of the aforementioned bodies; the publication of the new laws will automatically lead to the elimination of Law No. 92/2016.

There is a major law that generally governs the media and press business and organizations, the two other ones are complementary regulating the NPA and the NMA. In other words, Law No. 92/2016 will be replaced by three laws.

Moreover, the draft laws are said to provide journalists with legal protection, as it stipulates that whoever attacks a journalist physically while on duty shall be punished by a jail term and a fine of no less than EGP 10,000 and no more than EGP 20,000. Moreover, media agencies and organization will have an obligation to provide labor contracts to journalists working for them, stipulating minimum salaries and wages as well.

Furthermore, the draft laws regulating media and press, somehow, also encompass social media. Article 9 of said law provides that Media and Press Law is applicable to social media accounts on Facebook or Twitter and blogs with more than 5,000 subscribers or followers; Article 19 allows the suspension or blocking of media outlets including blogs and social media networks' accounts and pages with more than 5,000 subscribers or followers if they violate said law. Article 59 states that no media outlet or website shall be established prior to obtaining a license from the Supreme Council.

That being said, the draft law shall impose taxes on advertisements posted on Google and social media platforms. Members of the Parliament stressed that social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Google earn millions via advertising in Egypt, with no obligation to pay taxes in return; therefore, it is stipulated in the draft law that it is not permitted to advertise to the Egyptian market on a website if it is not registered in the Supreme Council.

Conclusion

As the aforementioned draft laws and still under review by the Egyptian authorities, none of the above is assured to be final, for a matter of fact, the Council of State acknowledged the draft law regulating media and press has some unconstitutional articles, and such articles shall be amended accordingly. In the meantime, Law No. 92/2016 shall remain in force.

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