Egyptian Media - The Press

The Press

The written press is very diverse in Egypt, with over 500 newspapers, journals, and magazines. However these are owned mostly or in some way by the government, the opposition or other political parties. Several journalists from private newspapers have been arrested and jailed for breaching laws that prohibit criticism of the President, state institutions and foreign leaders, or "putting out false news harming the reputation and interests of the country". However, unlike many of Egypt's regional counterparts, criticism of the government in general does take place, after amendments to existing press laws in 2006 which however still criminalise libel.

In 2009 an Egyptian court revoked the publishing license for Ibdaa ("creativity"), a small-circulation literary magazine, for publishing a "blasphemous" poem by Hilmi Salem called “On the balcony of Leila Murad" in which God is likened to an Egyptian peasant who farms and milks cows. It came to the attention of authorities at Al-Azhar University, described as “the government’s highest authority on religion”, who then petitioned the courts, who ruled that "Freedom of the press...should be used responsibly and not touch on the basic foundations of Egyptian society, and family, religion and morals". Over the past two decades, Al-Azhar University censored more than 196 texts.