Press Freedom in Egypt

Seven years after the January 2011 revolution, the level of media freedom is abysmal and Egypt is now one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists. 

Ranking 161 in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, Egypt is one of the only countries in the world where you can be arrested, tortured and imprisoned for years on end for "distributing fake news." 

Hundreds of journalists are currently languishing in prison without any hope of release - all for daring to speak out against a brutal regime which crushes any and all form of opposition.

Some spend years in detention without being charged or tried, while others have been sentenced to long jail terms or even life imprisonment in cruelly unfair mass trials, said Reporters Without Borders. 

Under Sisi’s leadership, who engineered a second term as president in early 2018, authorities have waged a witch-hunt against journalists suspected of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and have orchestrated a "Sisification" of the media. 

Coverage of many economic subjects, including inflation and corruption, can also result in imprisonment. The internet is the only place left where independently reported news and information can circulate, but more than 400 websites have been blocked since the summer of 2017 and more and more people are being arrested because of their social network posts.

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