Journalists demonstrate in front of the journalists' union in Cairo, April 4, 2014. (Credit: Mahmoud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images)
The charges brought against Mada Masr by Egypt's Supreme Media Regulation Council on Sunday include "the practice of media activities without authorization" and "publishing false information without source verification."
The council referred the case to the prosecutor general, as announced on Mada Masr’s X account. The website, already inaccessible in Egypt without a VPN, will be blocked for six months.
Earlier in the day, Mada Masr’s founder and editor-in-chief, Lina Atallah, attended a hearing with the state regulator regarding the "overage of discussions regarding a scenario in which Israel’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip could displace Palestinians from Gaza," as mentioned in the site's X post.
? BREAKING: State media regulator refers Mada Masr to public prosecutor, blocks website for 6 months
— Mada Masr مدى مصر (@MadaMasr) October 29, 2023
Mada Masr will be referred to the Public Prosecution and its website will be blocked for six months for “practicing media activities without a license” and “publishing false… pic.twitter.com/VTmolEXf1o
The issue stems from an article dated October 11, four days after the deadly Hamas attacks. The article, titled "Egypt's Challenges in the Gaza War," centers on the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only Gaza entry point not controlled by Israel. It analyzes Cairo's response to the closure of Rafah after Israeli strikes (only about a hundred humanitarian trucks have been allowed to enter the enclave in the past ten days) and the repercussions of the conflict.
The article is based on insights from "five high-ranking Egyptian diplomatic and political sources" who spoke anonymously to Mada Masr. These sources identify two main challenges Egypt faces in the ongoing Gaza situation.
The first involves the possibility of tens of thousands of refugees flooding into the Sinai. The second concerns Egypt's ability to manage the situation through mediation initiatives that prevent it from being sidelined from its traditional role as the regional manager of Palestinian affairs.
According to the sources interviewed by Mada Masr, these challenges are linked to "domestic situation challenges and the fear that the current crisis could be used against the Egyptian regime to extract various concessions."
"Plan ready for execution"
Despite the Egyptian government's repeated refusal to allow a mass influx of Palestinians into its territory, Mada Masr notes that this possibility cannot be ruled out. "The country has already begun logistical preparations and has a plan ready for execution if the presidency decides, which includes setting up tents in the Egyptian cities of Sheikh Zuwayed and Rafah, as well as security cordons to prevent infiltrations and a ban on Palestinians entering the city of Arish under any circumstances," Mada Masr writes. "If Palestinians cross the border into Egypt, they will only be allowed into the 14-kilometer-long and 500-meter-deep buffer zone in Rafah, which Egypt began constructing in 2014."
These developments come just weeks before the presidential election scheduled for December, which incumbent President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is widely predicted to win. Sisi has ruled the country with an iron fist since coming to power in 2013, after toppling Mohammad Morsi.
The Supreme Media Regulatory Council announced on October 15 that it would open an investigation following complaints about Mada Masr articles that were deemed to "jeopardize national security." The Council described Mada Masr’s coverage as "based on anonymous fictional sources" and in violation of "journalistic honor, professionalism, and credibility," as reported by Mada Masr on social media.
In a country holding nearly 60,000 political prisoners, Mada Masr, considered one of the last bastions of independent journalism in Egypt, is often targeted by authorities. In late 2019, the Cairo police raided the offices of the media outlet and arrested three journalists, including Attalah. She was briefly arrested again in May 2020 and last year, Attalah along with three of her colleagues were questioned for "spreading false information."
Egypt is ranked 168th out of 180 in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index and is considered "one of the world's biggest prisons for journalists" by Reporters Without Borders.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.