Local reactions vary to Egypt's online pornography ban

[DJKeefy]

Islamist forces welcome, civil forces condemn prosecutor-general's decision to implement court ruling banning pornographic websites in Egypt.

Reactions varied among Egypt's independent and partisan politicians to Prosecutor-General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud's Wednesday decision to implement an earlier administrative court ruling banning pornographic websites in Egypt.

Islamist politicians praised the move.

In statements to Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan described the decision as "a first step towards establishing a society based on ethics."

"The prosecutor-general's decision will serve to preserve Egypt's social norms and values," Ghozlan added, stressing that the ban would not apply to news websites critical of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mohamed Nour, spokesperson for the Salafist Nour Party, voiced similar sentiments.

"The administrative court ruling to ban pornographic websites represents a step towards preserving traditional Egyptian values and ethics," he told Al-Ahram, going on to express hope that the ruling would be applied by the relevant government ministries.

Nour believes there is no need to fear the decision's potential impact on personal and public freedoms. "Egyptian society is conservative by nature and rejects these websites," he asserted.

Former Nour Party member and Islamist MP Ali Wanis (who was expelled from the party this summer following allegations of sexual misconduct), for his part, described the decision as "a first step towards applying Islamic Law in Egypt."

More secular-minded politicians and activists, meanwhile, slammed the decision.

"Those who are preoccupied with banning websites (which they will not be able to block for technical reasons) should be more concerned about the drafting of Egypt's new constitution," Ayman El-Sayad, a liberal journalist and advisor to President Mohamed Morsi, stated on Twitter.

Islam Lotfy, a former Muslim Brotherhood member and founder of the moderate-Islamist Egyptian Current Party, likewise criticised the move.

"Instead of focussing on pornographic websites, the prosecutor-general should focus his efforts on combating corruption," Lotfy stated on Twitter, in a reference to the many unresolved corruption cases lodged with the office of the public-prosecutor, who himself has been accused of corruption by several prominent political figures.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/57484.aspx

[Horus]

You would think that they would have more pressing matters to deal with than trying to ban internet access, if they banned every site where it popped up in some form or another then they will have to have a total ban, but maybe that is what they are after. I always worry when the people in charge especially in the case of Egypt with its MB majority start to go along the morality path as it usually signals the start of the more radical elements starting to push for control and impose their version of morality and religion on everyone else.

[DJKeefy]

Minister: Complete block of pornographic sites 'very difficult'.

It would be overly complicated to completely block access to Internet porn sites in Egypt due to continued technological advances, Minister of Communications and Technology Hany Mahmoud said on Thursday.

“Other countries failed to do so,” he said. “So I urge the religious clergy to advise the youth not to open those sites.”

Mahmoud said that the public prosecutor had requested such a blockage in 2009.

“The government did not challenge the first request,” he said, stressing the need for legislation to determine the quality of these sites, and a budget for implementing the ban.

Public prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud sent official letters on Wednesday to the communications and information technology minister, the interior minister and the head of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, ordering them to block the sites.

Source: http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/mi ... -difficult

[Horus]

Well surely the answer is, don’t look in the first place!
It is incredible that in a country that purports to be so religious that this should even be considered to be a problem. Is it just another example of the double standards as applied to women? “I cannot control my urges so it is your fault, you must cover up” “Even though I am deeply religious, I cannot stop viewing porn on the internet” Maybe with this new found freedom they will start to realise that there is a lot more to living in this modern world than just listening to some cleric telling them how to behave and just maybe they will start to take some responsibility for their own failings and stop blaming someone else all the time.