RantCrush Top 5: May 25, 2017

The Egyptian government has banned 21 websites for “supporting terrorism,” according to a state-owned news agency. Among the banned websites are Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news outlet that covers many human rights stories, and Huffington Post Arabic. The only comment from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority was, “So what if it is true? It should not be a problem.” State news agency MENA said that the blocked websites are supporting “terrorism and extremism as well [as] publishing lies.”

This follows similar bans by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The backlash against Al Jazeera follows a recent incident in which hackers supposedly published false comments on the site, and then other outlets covered those comments. Egypt revoked Al Jazeera’s license to broadcast television back in 2011 after political unrest. Now many people fear further crackdowns on democratic institutions.

Just when you thought Egypt couldn’t get any more repressive, it blocks 21 websites, including the fiercely independent Mada & Aljazeera https://t.co/RAduBReJ7h

— Omar Shakir (@OmarSShakir) May 24, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.