{
  "id": 147,
  "slug": "2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa",
  "title": "Egypt: a license requirement leaves an independent news site unable to operate legally for years",
  "occurred_on": "2018-10-01",
  "occurred_on_precision": "month",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "EG",
  "country": "EG",
  "continent": "africa",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
  "leader_slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The licensing requirement operated alongside a 2018 cybercrime law that made it a crime to use certain software tools without the council's permission, according to Al-Manassa's editor.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2020-10-26",
  "outcome_note": "Al-Manassa's editor said the outlet's 2018 license application had received no response as of the October 2020 interview.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation required news websites to obtain a government license to operate, and independent outlet Al-Manassa's application, filed in 2018, went unanswered for more than two years.{c:521}{c:522}{c:587}",
  "what_happened": "Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR), founded in 2018 to oversee print, broadcast and online media, required news websites operating in the country to obtain a license from it before they could publish legally. Al-Manassa, an independent Egyptian news site founded in 2016, submitted its license application in October 2018 when the council called for websites to register, but had received no response as of an October 2020 interview with its editor, Nora Younis, meaning the outlet had operated for two years under an unresolved licensing requirement with no legal certainty about its status. Younis also said Egypt's cybercrime law separately made it a criminal offense to use certain open-source software tools without the council's permission if doing so could be characterized as committing a crime, a provision she said gave authorities broad discretion over online publishers' technical operations as well as their editorial content.{c:521}{c:522}{c:587}\n\nAs of the October 2020 interview, Al-Manassa's 2018 application remained unanswered.{c:521}{c:522}{c:587}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed; the Supreme Council for Media Regulation did not respond to Al-Manassa's 2018 license application or explain the delay.{c:521}{c:522}{c:587}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "An independent news site operated for more than two years without a resolved license, unable to obtain the legal certainty the licensing system was meant to provide, under a regulator that could also treat unlicensed software use as a crime.{c:521}{c:522}",
  "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not state whether the Supreme Council for Media Regulation ever responded to Al-Manassa's application.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:44Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:39Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:20:52Z",
  "stage": "pressure",
  "ladder_note": "A national council required a license before a news site could operate at all and left the application unanswered for years rather than approving, denying or fining it.",
  "country_name": "Egypt",
  "tactics": [
    "prior_restraint"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
    "name": "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/abdel-fattah-el-sisi"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:16:44Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not state whether the Supreme Council for Media Regulation ever responded to Al-Manassa's application."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
      "name": "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/abdel-fattah-el-sisi"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "al-manassa",
      "name": "Al-Manassa",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/al-manassa"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "nora-younis",
      "name": "Nora Younis",
      "outlet": "al-manassa",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/nora-younis"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 521,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 147,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "application unanswered since 2018",
      "statement": "Al-Manassa's October 2018 license application had received no response as of the October 2020 interview.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 354,
      "evidence_quote": "Al-Manassa submitted its timely application in October 2018, and have never received a response to this day.",
      "evidence_date": "2020-10-26",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:42Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 354,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
        "title": "Al-Manassa editor Nora Younis on censorship in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2020-10-26",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/521"
    },
    {
      "id": 522,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 147,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "cybercrime law on software use",
      "statement": "Egypt's cybercrime law makes it illegal to use certain open-source software without the council's permission if it could be characterized as committing a crime.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 354,
      "evidence_quote": "It is illegal under cybercrime law to use, without SCMR permission, open source software to commit 'a crime.'",
      "evidence_date": "2020-10-26",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:16:43Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 354,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
        "title": "Al-Manassa editor Nora Younis on censorship in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2020-10-26",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/522"
    },
    {
      "id": 587,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 147,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "license requirement",
      "statement": "Egyptian law requires news websites to obtain a license from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, founded in 2018.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 354,
      "evidence_quote": "Media websites in Egypt are required under this law to obtain a license from the SCMR, which was founded in 2018, while Al-Manassa was founded in 2016.",
      "evidence_date": "2020-10-26",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:31:54Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 354,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
        "title": "Al-Manassa editor Nora Younis on censorship in Egypt",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2020-10-26",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/587"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 354,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2020/10/al-manassa-editor-nora-younis-on-censorship-in-egypt/",
      "title": "Al-Manassa editor Nora Younis on censorship in Egypt",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2020-10-26",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 429,
      "url": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-arrests-journalist-amid-media-crackdown",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Egypt arrests another journalist as attacks on independent media continue",
      "publisher": "Middle East Eye",
      "published_on": "2020-07",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Egypt: a license requirement leaves an independent news site unable to operate legally for years. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}