CAIRO: Egypt’s ultra-conservative al-Nour religious party said on its Facebook page on Monday that the party’s MP Younis Makhioun has put forward a request for an “urgent briefing” to ban pornography websites from the Internet in Egypt.
The request is expected to be discussed shortly in Egypt’s lower house.
The news saw praise and condemnation alike from Egyptians as many commentators showed support and urged for the ban to be passed, while others objected on the loss of personal freedoms.
Others feared that it would not stop at pornography sites, but would go on to crackdown on other websites conservatives believe go against their creed.
On May 12, 2009, the administrative court ordered both the minister of communication and the national committee to regulate communication to ban pornography websites in Egypt, after a lawsuit called them “complicit” in spreading vice and conducting harm to society.
The court based its decision on what it called “the harm that this material [can] cause to the fabric of the family.”
However, the ministry of communication said it could not comply to the court order, as it is a personal responsibility that lies with the individual user online.