Fri 21 June 2019:
The Egyptian authorities have blocked Turkey’s TRT Arabi and Anadolu Agency websites, the Ankara-based International Association for Media and Communication (IAMCR) announced yesterday. “As part of the ongoing censorship on media in Egypt, TRT Arabi and Anadolu Agency were blocked by the Egyptian regime,” IAMCR said, condemning what it described as “a coup attempt against media freedom.”
IAMCR explained that the move had come following the websites’ coverage of the death of the former Egyptian first freely-elected president, Mohamed Morsi. The former president of Egypt was kept in a cell for 23 hours a day since his overthrow in 2013 and consistently denied medical attention for his diabetes, kidney and liver disease. Morsi collapsed during a court session on Monday, was denied first aid for up to 30 minutes, then taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Expressing its resentment, IAMCR added that the “undemocratic practices in Egypt have crossed the red lines.” The media group called on the Western world “to publicly acknowledge the existence of media censorship in Egypt.” In recent years, the Egyptian authorities have blocked hundreds of websites and news sources in what local and international human rights groups describe as part of “a wider policy to restrict freedom, repress dissent, and limit access to information.” The number of blocked platforms and websites in Egypt is on the rise, with over 500 banned websites. The ban list includes news websites, blogs, as well as VPN and proxy service providers offering unrestricted and secure access to the internet without fear of surveillance.
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