{"id":26181,"date":"2026-11-05T16:12:42","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T14:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=26181"},"modified":"2026-11-05T16:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T14:12:42","slug":"programming-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/programming-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Programming Silence: Rights Report Identifies 13 Legal Routes Restricting Digital Space in Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Egyptian Human Rights Forum has released a 55-page<\/a> report titled \u201cProgramming Silence: How Do Laws Restrict Digital Rights in Egypt?\u201d, examining how legislation enacted between 2003 and 2025 built a system of control over digital space at the expense of the safeguards enshrined in the 2014 Constitution.<\/p>\n

The report traces this system across thirteen areas, from website blocking and online newspaper licensing to mandatory retention of users\u2019 data, the criminalisation of encryption and possession of telecommunications equipment and drones, and the new Criminal Procedure Law, whose implementation parliament postponed until October 2027. <\/p>\n

\n

It concludes that the crisis begins not with an absence of constitutional provisions but with their translation into laws that redefine the boundaries of rights through flexible criteria such as \u201cnational security\u201d, \u201cpublic order\u201d and \u201cfamily values\u201d, allowing intervention first and review afterwards.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/svg><\/div>\n

A constitution that protects, provisions that exempt<\/h2>\n

The report begins with the constitutional framework. Article 65 guarantees expression \u201cthrough speech, writing, imagery, or other means of expression and publication\u201d, wording that encompasses posts, videos, podcasts and blogging without requiring an internet-specific provision. Article 70 guarantees freedom of electronic publication and the right to establish digital media. Article 71 prohibits the censorship, confiscation, suspension and closure of newspapers and media outlets except \u201cin times of war or general mobilisation\u201d, and bars custodial penalties for publication offences except incitement to violence, discrimination and attacks on personal honour.<\/p>\n

Article 68 makes official information and documents \u201cthe property of the people\u201d and requires the state to digitise them \u201cby all modern means and tools\u201d. Article 57 prohibits accessing or monitoring electronic correspondence except \u201cby a reasoned judicial order, for a specified period\u201d, requires the state to protect citizens\u2019 right to use public communications services, and prohibits their arbitrary disruption or denial. Articles 94, 95, 97 and 99 add the rule of law, the principle of legality in offences and penalties, and a ban on shielding administrative decisions from judicial review; they also make violations of private life an offence not subject to a statute of limitations. Article 31 incorporates information-space security into national security and leaves its measures to legislation, while Article 92 prohibits laws restricting rights in ways that impair their essence. Article 93 gives ratified international treaties the force of law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whose Article 19 guarantees freedom of expression and Article 17 prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy and correspondence.<\/p>\n

The report finds that some subsequent legislation approached digital space \u201cthrough the logic of authoritarian control rather than the safeguarding of rights\u201d. It identifies five laws that carried this shift: the laws regulating media and the press, counterterrorism, combating information technology crimes, personal data protection, and telecommunications regulation and its amendments.<\/p>\n