Former gov’t official calls for boycott on media sources that reject anti-terror bill

As the Journalists Syndicate protests against the limits on press freedoms that would be imposed by a controversial counter-terrorism bill, former Culture Ministry official Hossam Nassar has launched a call to boycott all print and online newspapers, accusing media platforms of “supporting terrorism” by spurning the draft law.

Nassar created a Facebook page calling on all Egyptians to refuse to buy or read any newspapers on Friday, July 10. "The people will thwart an attempt to create media chaos that they [syndicate members] want to create,” he wrote.

The Facebook statement urged citizens to refuse to buy or read any print newspapers or online news sources on Friday, and to refuse to share, like or comment on online news articles, to delete all news apps from smart phones, and to spread news of the boycott on Twitter and Facebook.

In a statement posted on his personal Facebook page earlier on Thursday, Nassar claimed that many newspapers vendors wouldn’t be selling newspapers on Friday in solidarity with the boycott. Nassar also stated that the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm invited him for an interview, but he turned the offer down.

In reaction against the anti-terrorism bill, the Journalists Syndicate started issuing tweets with the hashtag “I’m a journalist, not a terrorist.” The syndicate argues that several articles in the draft law, particularly Article 33, "contradict the Constitution and all the rules of freedom of thought and expression."  The syndicate called on the government to retract all the articles in the bill that limit press freedoms.

The bill has been widely lambasted for proposing measures that would violate fundamental human rights, and Article 33 in particular provoked vitriolic backlash in this regard.

The article forbids media outlets to write articles on terrorist attacks or counter-terrorism operations that contradict government-issued official statements. Violators could be sentenced to up to two years in prison. Last week, syndicate head Khaled al-Balshy told Mada Masr that the Cabinet has shown willingness to amend the article by changing the penalty to a fine, instead of a prison sentence. But Balshy said that he was pushing for the article to be retracted altogether.

The Cabinet approved the controversial bill last week, on the same day that coordinated terrorist attacks claimed the lives of more than 100 people in North Sinai. The bill is now being reviewed by the State Council and the Supreme Judicial Council. If these bodies approve the draft, it will be sent to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to be ratified.