Egyptian MPs call for high charges for social media use

A number of Egyptian MPs have proposed the imposition of high fees for using social media and well-known websites, Masralarabia.com reported on Sunday.

One Free Egyptians Party MP suggested that 200 Egyptian pounds should be charged for using Facebook and Twitter. Riyadh Abdul-Sattar hopes that his proposal is taken seriously because it would have “positive results” for both Egypt’s security and its treasury.

It is said that Mohamed Omarah MP, of the Country’s Future Party, has called on the three largest telecommunication companies in Egypt to cooperate with the government in order to impose such fees. He has suggested that 30 Egyptian pounds would be a reasonable maximum charge for each hour’s use of Facebook.

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Other MPs proposed something more organised, including Ahmed Ismail MP, a member of the Defence and National Security Committee in the Egyptian parliament. Addressing a meeting attended by senior military and police officials, Ismail proposed drafting a new law related to electronic crimes and how to deal with them. Another MP, Ahmed Badawi, went even further and proposed having a mechanism to trace all communications through social media, with strict censorship imposed on the more well-used websites.

Last Monday, the speaker of the Egyptian parliament said that the state of emergency imposed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in the wake of the recent church bombings is intended to target Facebook and YouTube.