In spite of all attempts of Egypt’s President Mohammad Morsi to project the image of an open and democratic leader, the YouTube scandal has stirred quite a ripple. The Administrative Court of Egypt banned the other day this video service for a month for posting Innocence of Muslims, a film that has insulted the Islamic world. What prompted this step was the complaint of an Egyptian who thinks YouTube “poses a threat to societal peace,” for one can see this US-made movie on it. Moreover, the head of Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Abdel Rahman al-Sawi, believes that punishment for this kind of films should be meted out not only to the video service but also to its owner – Google – by denying access to all of its products in Egypt.
The human rights watchdog Amnesty International has already released a statement on the suspension of YouTube. The organization is convinced that “a temporary ban on YouTube in Egypt is a setback for freedom of expression.”
Shehab Wagih, Project Coordinator at the Regional Office of the Friedrich
Naumann Foundation in Egypt, says that the court order to suspend YouTube “can be used as a precedent for banning other websites in the future.” “This occurred after a group of attorneys had claimed that YouTube showed no respect for Islam. So they took legal action after the film-provoked events,” Wagih said.
It will be recalled that the American film Innocence of Muslims, which ridicules the Prophet Mohammad, sparked outrage and even violence in the Arab world. Particularly, in connection with this movie, an assault was made on the US Embassy in Libya, which left the ambassador and a few more people dead.
But Egypt is not the first Muslim country to ban, at least temporarily, YouTube. Bangladesh, Sudan, and Pakistan had done so before.
Shehab Wagih thinks that the suspension of this video resource in Egypt is “alarming,” for this may also lead to “other bans that will restrict freedom of the media.” “The traditional mass media have gained a lot of freedom after the 2011 revolution,” the expert continues, “but these freedoms rest on the confidence of journalists that they will not be brought to justice for the freedom of expression, rather than on some new laws. The court order to block YouTube has not yet come into force. It is still under discussion.”
AN ALTERNATIVE POINT OF VIEW
Tarek OSMAN, a writer, author of the book Egypt on the Brink: from Nasser to Mubarak:
“I have written more than once that the Egyptian revolution was not ‘made’ by Facebook or Twitter. It is a myth. As for the ban [on YouTube. – Ed.], it was not a decision of ‘politicians.’ It is a court ruling based on a set of religious rules.
“As for freedom of the press in Egypt, the media showed considerable progress even in the last few years of the Mubarak presidency, not to mention the past two years. But we should not forget two points: 1) there is a media war going on between the Islamist and the secular camps – it is underway at TV talk shows, in the press and other media, and usually boils down to such a question as control of or, at least, impact on national rhetoric; 2) the ruling regime in Egypt is now trying to boost its impact on the state-run media, especially on national newspapers with the largest print run.”
