Déjà vu as Egypt court rejects lawsuit to ban Facebook and Twitter

An Egyptian court rejected a lawsuit to ban Facebook and Twitter for the second time, the daily Al-Shorouk newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Lawyer Mohamed Hamed Salem filed a lawsuit calling for the banning of the two major social networking websites, claiming they were used for spying and inciting violence during the January 25, 2011 revolution.

Salem claimed the social networking sites are “unlicensed” and became a “hub for rumors,” with no censorship and the possibility for people to post rumors without revealing their identities.

The court added that the state is prohibited from placing any limitations on the free flow of information or allowing any monopoly over information, except for the purpose of preserving public order and national security, the role of which it maintained should be to “protect society from perverts and those who oppose public liberties.”

“Social networking websites are forums for social and political expression that affirms users’ rights to knowledge and communication as granted by the Constitution, as well as the right to a free life, which includes the internet and communication,” Aswat Masriya wrote in response to the news.

The administrative court rejected a similar case in August 2015 filed by the same lawyer and another lawyer Mahmoud Gueily.

Head of the digital freedoms unit at the Support Center for Information Technology, Mahmoud al-Banhawy, told Mada Masr previously that, while a court order to ban Facebook and Twitter is unlikely, Article 31 of the Egyptian Constitution could provide considerable grounds for similar lawsuits. It gives the government wide latitude to control cyberspace due to “national security” concerns, without clearly defining what those concerns are, he explained.

Article 31 states: “The security of digital space is an essential part of the economy and national security, and the state is obliged to take necessary measures to protect it.”

The Egyptian government has exerted multiple efforts to impose strict censorship on cyberspace in recent years. In September 2014, the government reportedly contracted a cyber-security firm to monitor data on social media by profiling users. A report published on the Buzzfeed website quoted an Interior Ministry official saying the ministry would monitor dialogue it finds “worrying,” such as conversations between Islamists, or those involving debauchery or same-sex acts. The Interior Ministry later denied this report.

Amr Gharbeya, a privacy and internet freedoms advocate, told Mada Masr earlier that state attempts to control cyberspace are persistent. “The internet has become the most democratic medium of self-expression since 2011. It’s even more democratic than newspapers and satellite channels, and the state has been increasingly aware of this,” he said.

Egyptian citizens have been convicted for their online activity based on two pieces of legislation: a cybercrime law that was approved by Parliament this year, and Egypt’s right to information bill that criminalizes the spreading of rumors on social networking websites.

According to an independent census prepared by Gharbeya, 95 people have been arrested since 2014 based on charges related to views they expressed on social media, or for running Facebook pages considered oppositional to the state.