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After several months of discussion, the Egyptian Parliament passed the Cybercrime Act on June 5, 2018 – this is Egypt’s first Internet-related regulation to regulate social media content and strengthen online censorship. However, this law requires the signing of the Egyptian President to take effect.
This law aims to combat the illegal use of computers and information networks and to protect the data, information systems and networks of the Egyptian government and any public corporation from any form of attack, infiltration, falsification, destruction or destruction. The law also requires protection of the privacy guaranteed by the Constitution, and no one may disclose or eavesdrop on personal information unless a judicial order obtains.
Image: By Open Clip Art (From the Open Clip Art website.) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
This law proposes 29 penalties for cybercrime, including imprisonment ranging from 3 months to 5 years and a fine of up to 20 million Egyptian pounds.
- The law clearly establishes that if the person responsible for operating a website, private account, e-mail or information system encourages cybercrime, it will face imprisonment for at least one year and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 Egyptian pounds.
- If you inadvertently commit cybercrime or encourage cybercrime, you will face at least 6 months of imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 Egyptian pounds.
- According to the second article of this law, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must retain the user’s personal information and details of online activities and must provide such data as required by the Egyptian security agency after a judicial order is issued.
- The most severe penalties in the law include the fact that if an Internet service provider fails to enforce a court order to block a particular website, it will face a fine of 500,000 to 1 million Egyptian pounds, and Its senior managers will also face imprisonment for one year. If the national security is threatened or at least one person dies due to non-compliance, the fine will increase to 20 million Egyptian pounds.
- In addition, according to the provisions of this Act, any impersonation may be punished with imprisonment of at least 3 months and a fine of 10,000 to 30,000 Egyptian pounds. If impersonation causes damage to the impersonated person (individual or entity), the period of imprisonment is at least one year and the fine is between 50,000 and 200,000 Egyptian pounds. If this action is directed against a state agency, the time of imprisonment will be longer and the fine will increase to 100,000 to 300,000 Egyptian pounds.
This law provides a firm legal basis, and Egyptian authorities can use the code to crack down on dissent or political critics. Although the Egyptian government once reviewed the websites and platforms on the grounds of national security, so far no relevant laws have been issued.
In May 2018, the Egyptian authorities arrested several bloggers and well-known social activists for similar reasons.
Source: madamasr
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