National Rights Council, media regulator meet to discuss news website licensing
A delegation from Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights discussed the regularization of websites seeking operating licenses with leaders and members of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) during a joint meeting held at the media council’s headquarters, concluding with an agreement to form a joint working group.
The talks unfold against a backdrop of mounting human rights outcry sparked by a court ruling that ordered the closure of the prominent independent news website Mada Masr and levied a 3-million-pound fine against its editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, on charges of “operating without a license.”
According to identical statements released by both state bodies, the discussions addressed “the conditions of websites seeking to regularize their status,” alongside mechanisms to enhance institutional coordination, support freedom of opinion and expression, and establish professional media practices within the overlapping constitutional and legal jurisdictions of both councils.
Political parties and movements—foremost among them the Civil Democratic Movement and the Bread and Freedom Party (under formation)—have leveled explicit accusations against the SCMR, charging that it has turned into “an instrument to besiege independent journalism and leave press institutions vulnerable to legal prosecution” by freezing decisions on licensing applications and enforcing unannounced administrative blocking.
The two councils agreed to establish a joint working group to conduct continuous consultation and coordination regarding shared concerns, while formulating unified visions and recommendations to handle priority files, chief among them the procedures tied to regularizing the legal status of online platforms and websites.
An expanded delegation from the National Council for Human Rights attended the meeting, led by Ambassador Ahmed Ihab Gamal El-Din and his deputy Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, alongside the heads of the civil and political rights, complaints, and media committees.
Receiving the delegation were the head of the SCMR, Engineer Khaled Abdel Aziz, the council’s deputy head Essam El-Amir, and its secretary-general, Judge Yasser El-Mabadi.
In recent years, Mada Masr sought an operating license in accordance with the Press Regulation Law, submitting an initial application to the SCMR in 2018 without receiving a response.
Following the issuance of the law’s executive regulations in 2020, the website submitted a second application, which state regulators likewise left unanswered.