Egypt and TikTok discussed new mechanisms for protecting children online. According to a cabinet statement issued on Friday 10 July, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Raafat Hendy met with TikTok’s Executive Director of Public Policy for the Middle East, Eurasia, and Africa, Emir Gelen, on the sidelines of the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2026 held in Geneva from 6 to 10 July.
The discussions focused on online child-protection mechanisms and opportunities for cooperation between Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority and TikTok on capacity-building programmes. The two sides also explored ways to enrich online cultural and scientific content related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The meeting comes amid a wider government campaign to address concerns over children’s exposure to online risks while balancing digital protection with rapid technological change. In April, Hendy announced plans to launch a dedicated mobile SIM card for children in cooperation with Egypt’s four mobile operators.
Earlier, in February, Egypt introduced its first Child Internet Risk Index, which assessed online safety for children aged five to twelve across several indicators, including safe digital use, parental supervision, protection from digital risks, and awareness and institutional support.
These initiatives follow directives from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for the government and parliament to review international legislation, including British and Australian laws restricting children’s use of social media.
Egypt’s efforts mirror a broader international push to regulate children’s access to digital platforms amid growing concerns over addiction, cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, exploitation, and potential long-term psychological effects.
On 2 July, YouTube launched supervised child accounts across the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, introducing additional parental controls and child-safety features within the main YouTube application.
In June, TikTok reported removing more than 2.38 million videos in Egypt during the fourth quarter of 2025 for violations of its Community Guidelines, making Egypt the third-largest market among five Arab countries covered in the company’s latest enforcement report.
The announcement followed an earlier transparency update that showed nearly 3 million videos were removed in Egypt between April and June 2025 as part of a regional enforcement campaign that took down almost 19 million videos across the Middle East and North Africa.
Comments (0)