Conclusion
Internet users in Egypt have unfettered access to
the Internet but the government monitors online
activities and has prosecuted online writers.
Bloggers have reported instances of harassment
and intimidation on the part of security forces.
NOTES
1. BBC World News. Country Profile: Egypt. Last
updated January 22, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/
2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737642.stm.
2. International Telecommunication Union, World
Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
3. Deborah L. Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world:
Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s
Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004,
http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arab
world_all_txt.htm; Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology, Arab Republic of Egypt,
“Telecom Reform Milestones,” http://www.mcit.gov.
eg/tele_Mileston.aspx.
4. International Telecommunication Union, World
Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
5. Deborah L. Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world:
Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s
Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004,
http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/
Internet_n_arabworld_all_txt.htm.
6. Set up with the help of the United Nations
Development Programme. Arab Republic of Egypt
Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology, “Access for All,” http://www.mcit.gov.eg/
ict_access.aspx.
7. Information & Decision Support Center, “Statistical
Indicators about Egypt,” January 16, 2007,
http://www.idsc.gov.eg/Indicators/IndicatorsResult.as
p?rIssueCategory=1&MainIssues=107&IndicatorSe
ctor=62&IndicatorClass=&Cond=OR.
8. Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Communications
and Information Technology, “Access for All,”
http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx.
9. Egypt at WSIS, “Partnering for Success,”
http://www.egyptatwsis.com.eg/pppict.asp; Colleen
Taylor, “Intel unveils WiMax network in rural Egypt,”
Electronic News Network, December 18, 2006,
http://www.edn.com/article/CA6400848.html?
partner=enews.
10. CIT Egypt, News Room, “Egypt to be the first in
the WIMAX technology,” March 1, 2007,
http://www.citegypt.com/press.asp?delta=88.
11. The Mobile Internet Unit is a bus equipped with
computers that can travel to remote areas to provide
temporary Internet access. Arab Republic of Egypt
Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology, “Access for All,”
http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx; Deborah L.
Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world: Digital
divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s Royal
Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004,
http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arab
world_all_txt.htm.
12. TradeArabia, “Egypt telecom set for massive growth,”
January 7, 2007, http://www.tradearabia.com/
tanews/newsdetails_snIT_article117205_cnt.html.
13. Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,”
November, 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/
mena1105/4.htm.
14. Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., “Egypt:
Convergence, broadband and Internet markets,”
December 6, 2006, http://www.budde.com.au/
publications/annual/contents/2006-AfricanBroadband-and-Internet-Markets-3916.html.
15. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Journalism
in Egypt: Caught Between Laws and the
Government, July 12, 2006, http://www.eohr.org/
report/2006/re0821.shtml.
16. Al Jazeera, “Egypt extends emergency law,” May 4,
2006, http://english.aljazeera.net/News/archive/
archive?ArchiveId=22418.
17. Emergency Law 147/2006.
18. On January 22, 2007, for example, Alexandrian blogger Abd al-Karim Sulaiman Nabil was sentenced to
four years in prison for “insulting Islam and the
President.” See Associated Press, “Egyptian blogger’s lawyers appeal his four years prison sentence,”
February 26, 2007, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/
2007/02/26/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Blogger.php.
19. Sarah El Sirgany, “Al-ahram reverses Internet block
on blogs,” The Daily Star, August 15, 2006,
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID
=2615; and Reporters Without Borders, “Court
upholds government’s claim to be able to block
opposition Websites,” June 27, 2006,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18136.
20. Negar Azimi, “Bloggers against torture,” The Nation,
February 6, 2007, http://www.thenation.com/
doc/20070219/azimi.
21. The Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, “Egypt,”
November 2005,
http://www.openarab.net/en/reports/net2006/egypt.s
html and Human Rights Watch, “False freedom:
Online censorship in the Middle East and North
Africa: Egypt,” November 2005, http://hrw.org/
reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm.
Country Summaries
279
Internet users in Egypt have unfettered access to
the Internet but the government monitors online
activities and has prosecuted online writers.
Bloggers have reported instances of harassment
and intimidation on the part of security forces.
NOTES
1. BBC World News. Country Profile: Egypt. Last
updated January 22, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/
2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737642.stm.
2. International Telecommunication Union, World
Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
3. Deborah L. Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world:
Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s
Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004,
http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arab
world_all_txt.htm; Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology, Arab Republic of Egypt,
“Telecom Reform Milestones,” http://www.mcit.gov.
eg/tele_Mileston.aspx.
4. International Telecommunication Union, World
Telecommunication Indicators 2006.
5. Deborah L. Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world:
Digital divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s
Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004,
http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/
Internet_n_arabworld_all_txt.htm.
6. Set up with the help of the United Nations
Development Programme. Arab Republic of Egypt
Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology, “Access for All,” http://www.mcit.gov.eg/
ict_access.aspx.
7. Information & Decision Support Center, “Statistical
Indicators about Egypt,” January 16, 2007,
http://www.idsc.gov.eg/Indicators/IndicatorsResult.as
p?rIssueCategory=1&MainIssues=107&IndicatorSe
ctor=62&IndicatorClass=&Cond=OR.
8. Arab Republic of Egypt Ministry of Communications
and Information Technology, “Access for All,”
http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx.
9. Egypt at WSIS, “Partnering for Success,”
http://www.egyptatwsis.com.eg/pppict.asp; Colleen
Taylor, “Intel unveils WiMax network in rural Egypt,”
Electronic News Network, December 18, 2006,
http://www.edn.com/article/CA6400848.html?
partner=enews.
10. CIT Egypt, News Room, “Egypt to be the first in
the WIMAX technology,” March 1, 2007,
http://www.citegypt.com/press.asp?delta=88.
11. The Mobile Internet Unit is a bus equipped with
computers that can travel to remote areas to provide
temporary Internet access. Arab Republic of Egypt
Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology, “Access for All,”
http://www.mcit.gov.eg/ict_access.aspx; Deborah L.
Wheeler, “The Internet in the Arab world: Digital
divides and cultural connections,” Jordan’s Royal
Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, June 16, 2004,
http://www.riifs.org/guest/lecture_text/Internet_n_arab
world_all_txt.htm.
12. TradeArabia, “Egypt telecom set for massive growth,”
January 7, 2007, http://www.tradearabia.com/
tanews/newsdetails_snIT_article117205_cnt.html.
13. Human Rights Watch, “False freedom: Online censorship in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt,”
November, 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/
mena1105/4.htm.
14. Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., “Egypt:
Convergence, broadband and Internet markets,”
December 6, 2006, http://www.budde.com.au/
publications/annual/contents/2006-AfricanBroadband-and-Internet-Markets-3916.html.
15. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Journalism
in Egypt: Caught Between Laws and the
Government, July 12, 2006, http://www.eohr.org/
report/2006/re0821.shtml.
16. Al Jazeera, “Egypt extends emergency law,” May 4,
2006, http://english.aljazeera.net/News/archive/
archive?ArchiveId=22418.
17. Emergency Law 147/2006.
18. On January 22, 2007, for example, Alexandrian blogger Abd al-Karim Sulaiman Nabil was sentenced to
four years in prison for “insulting Islam and the
President.” See Associated Press, “Egyptian blogger’s lawyers appeal his four years prison sentence,”
February 26, 2007, http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/
2007/02/26/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Blogger.php.
19. Sarah El Sirgany, “Al-ahram reverses Internet block
on blogs,” The Daily Star, August 15, 2006,
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID
=2615; and Reporters Without Borders, “Court
upholds government’s claim to be able to block
opposition Websites,” June 27, 2006,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18136.
20. Negar Azimi, “Bloggers against torture,” The Nation,
February 6, 2007, http://www.thenation.com/
doc/20070219/azimi.
21. The Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, “Egypt,”
November 2005,
http://www.openarab.net/en/reports/net2006/egypt.s
html and Human Rights Watch, “False freedom:
Online censorship in the Middle East and North
Africa: Egypt,” November 2005, http://hrw.org/
reports/2005/mena1105/4.htm.
Country Summaries
279