{
  "id": 190,
  "slug": "2019-egypt-media-law-blocks-al-mashhad",
  "title": "Egypt: media law used to fine and block news site al-Mashhad",
  "occurred_on": "2019-03-22",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "EG",
  "country": "EG",
  "continent": "africa",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling",
  "leader_slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "unknown",
  "outcome_on": "2019-05-07",
  "outcome_note": "Al-Mashhad's website was still inaccessible in Egypt as of May 7, 2019, the last date given in the source reviewed.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "Under a 2018 law that treats any social media account with more than 5,000 followers as a media outlet, Egypt's media regulator fined news site al-Mashhad and ordered internet providers to block it for spreading what it called false news.{c:690}{c:691}{c:692}",
  "what_happened": "Egypt's Law No. 180 of 2018 applies to every online and offline media outlet and, separately, to any social media account with more than 5,000 followers, treating such accounts as media outlets subject to regulation by the state's Supreme Council for Media Regulation. The law bans content the council judges to be false news, defamatory, obscene, or a threat to national security, with violators facing fines of up to 250,000 Egyptian pounds and having their websites blocked. On March 22, 2019, the council fined the news site al-Mashhad 50,000 Egyptian pounds and ordered Egyptian internet providers to block the site for six months. Al-Mashhad appealed, and on April 7 the council reduced the block to one month starting from the appeal date, but the site remained inaccessible inside Egypt as of May 7, 2019, according to the source reviewed.{c:690}{c:691}{c:692}\n\nUnresolved; al-Mashhad remained blocked in Egypt as of the date given in the source reviewed.{c:690}{c:691}{c:692}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.{c:690}{c:691}{c:692}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "The law let a state regulator fine and block a news site inside the country over content it alone judged false, without the matter going before an ordinary court first.{c:692}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not report whether the block was lifted after May 7, 2019.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:36:20Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:36:15Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:23:16Z",
  "stage": "pressure",
  "ladder_note": "Egyptian law classifies any social media account over five thousand followers as a media outlet subject to state fines and blocking, and Egypt used it to fine and block a news site for weeks; no United States \"fake news\" designation can fine or block an outlet.",
  "country_name": "Egypt",
  "tactics": [
    "disinformation_labeling"
  ],
  "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/2019-egypt-media-law-blocks-al-mashhad",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:36:20Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not report whether the block was lifted after May 7, 2019."
  },
  "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"
    },
    {
      "slug": "supreme-council-for-media-regulation-egypt",
      "name": "Supreme Council for Media Regulation",
      "kind": "body",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/supreme-council-for-media-regulation-egypt"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "al-mashhad",
      "name": "Al-Mashhad",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/al-mashhad"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 690,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 190,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Law covers accounts with more than 5,000 followers",
      "statement": "The scope of Law No. 180 of 2018 as applied to social media.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 398,
      "evidence_quote": "applies to all online and offline media outlets, as well as social media accounts with more than 5000 followers",
      "evidence_date": "2019-05-07",
      "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": "2026-09-23T01:36:17Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 398,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
        "title": "Egypt tests new media law with handling of al-Mashhad website block",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2019-05-07",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/690"
    },
    {
      "id": 691,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 190,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Al-Mashhad fined and its site ordered blocked for six months",
      "statement": "The regulator's specific action against al-Mashhad.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 398,
      "evidence_quote": "fined al-Mashhad 50,000 Egyptian pounds (US$2,909) and said Egyptian internet service providers would block the paper's website for six months",
      "evidence_date": "2019-05-07",
      "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": "2026-09-23T01:36:18Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 398,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
        "title": "Egypt tests new media law with handling of al-Mashhad website block",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2019-05-07",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/691"
    },
    {
      "id": 692,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 190,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Site still inaccessible after a partial appeal win",
      "statement": "Status of the block after al-Mashhad's appeal.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 398,
      "evidence_quote": "al-Mashhad was still inaccessible in Egypt as of May 7",
      "evidence_date": "2019-05-07",
      "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": "2026-09-23T01:36:18Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 398,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
        "title": "Egypt tests new media law with handling of al-Mashhad website block",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2019-05-07",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/692"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 398,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2019/05/egypt-tests-new-censorship-law-with-handling-of-al/",
      "title": "Egypt tests new media law with handling of al-Mashhad website block",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2019-05-07",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 484,
      "url": "https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2019/03/23/supreme-media-council-block-al-mashhad-newspaper/",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Supreme Media Council blocks Al-Mashhad newspaper",
      "publisher": "Daily News Egypt (national English-language paper)",
      "published_on": "2019-03-23",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-egypt-media-law-blocks-al-mashhad/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Egypt: media law used to fine and block news site al-Mashhad. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-egypt-media-law-blocks-al-mashhad. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}