Egypt’s Prosecutor-General has ordered the arrest of Taymour El-Sobky, a Facebook page administrator, for claiming that almost 50 percent of Egyptian women have either cheated on their husbands or ‘seek out’ immorality. According to state media Al-Ahram, the prosecutor general ordered Sobky’s arrest for “slandering Egyptian women” and for “damaging their honour”. Earlier this week, Egypt’s media authority banned Khairy Ramadan’s television show ‘Mumkin (It’s Possible)’ for hosting Sobky after a video of the controversial comments went viral on social media. ‘Mumkin’, which is aired on the privately-owned CBC channel, has been suspended for at least 15 days. Several international news outlets have commented that this ‘ban’ on the television show represents a sign of ‘waning freedom of expression’ in Egypt. While it is certainly unfortunate that an individual would get arrested for making ridiculous and insulting comments, it is important to see this as more of an issue with Egyptian media. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals in Egyptian society who would have deserved being in the spotlight, yet Khairy Ramadan chose to ignore them. Ramadan chose to ignore young entrepreneurs, NGOs and charities who are working to…
‘Egyptian Women Cheat’: Between Freedom of Speech and Media Ethics
February 17, 2016
