In recent years, time and again, the expression “Egyptian family values” has surged across social media and echoed in courtrooms by prosecutors and defense lawyers alike. It has become a flashpoint in public discourse without an agreed‑upon definition that captures what these values actually entail.
Egyptian law’s provisions against “attacking” or “violating” family values have been used to prosecute social media content creators for allegedly “indecent” behavior online. The crackdown began in 2020 with the arrest of Haneen Hossam, a TikTok content creator, and many creators like her, in the case that became known in the media as the “TikTok Girls.”
However, when policies and laws are enacted to enforce the law, the definition of the term remains vague.
Violating Egyptian family values is a crime stipulated in Article 25 under Law 175 of 2018, which tackles combating information technology crimes, and includes offenses such as “breaching privacy,” “harming the national economy,” “harming national security,” or “harming the independence and stability of the country.”
The legislative wording of Article 25 prescribes a penalty of six months’ imprisonment or a fine of EGP 50,000 (USD 1,056) for violating the principles of family values of Egyptian society. The article also punishes infringement on the sanctity of private life, distribution of personal data to a system or website for commercial purposes, and engagement in other prohibited acts.
As of 2025, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior conducted a wide-ranging security campaign targeting several content creators on social media platforms, following a series of reports accusing them of publishing content described as “indecent” and “violating public morals.”
Controversy over decency
Authorities intensify efforts to halt what is described as an assault on Egyptian family values when a television drama portrays intimate emotional relationships, scams, or fraud, or when a book is published with ideas that shock religious institutions or challenge traditional beliefs.
Social media content, fashion, such as an artist wearing unconventional clothing, and women’s public behaviour also fuel the fire.
Public calls for the harshest penalties and warnings of moral threats cite “family values,” based on a familiar set of traditional notions.
These concepts often emphasize respect and obedience within the family, particularly toward elders, reflecting long-standing social norms. Religious observance and expectations of modest behavior also feature prominently, frequently invoked in debates over public conduct, dress, and moral boundaries.
Singer and actor Mohamed Ramadan was caught in the crossfire when five official complaints were filed against him to the Egyptian Actors’ Syndicate, calling for his expulsion for raising the Egyptian flag during a performance in the United States on 13 April 2025 while wearing a cropped top resembling a bra. The complaints allege insults to the Egyptian flag, breaches of public decency, and attacks on family values.
Similarly, the Egyptian Actors’ Syndicate opened an investigation into actor Abbas Abu Al-Hassan in early November 2025, after receiving a legal notice demanding his removal for describing childbearing as “a great sin.” The syndicate emphasized its commitment “to investigating any statements that may affect social values or violate laws.”
While critics defend Egyptian family values and demand trials, expulsion from the Egyptian Actors’ Syndicate, most people online consume the content nonetheless.
Family values contested
Amid the heated discussions about prevention, banning, and increased control, silence prevails around the question of what Egyptian family values actually mean. Egyptians call for restoring and reclaiming these values, yet no one articulates them clearly.
However, the clear explanation of what these values are remains broadly invoked, but rarely defined. Rather than a fixed set of principles, these values often function as a social shorthand for ideas about morality, tradition, and behavior, shaped as much by individual beliefs as by cultural expectations.
The Ministry of Interior noted receiving multiple complaints in mid 2025 against content creators for posting videos on social media featuring offensive language, violations of public decency, and misuse of social media platforms. Suzy El Ordonia, Um Sagda, Aliya, Um Mecca, and various other content creators were apprehended in connection with these offenses.
The ministry labeled these offenses as “digital chaos” and the exploitation of online platforms for illicit gain.
Efforts to combat the destruction of Egyptian family values include the Ministry of Awqaf in Fayoum, which organized more than 150 religious and educational seminars across the government earlier in 2025 to combat negative social phenomena and promote family values.
The broad and variable rules seem to be generalized, universal moral appeals, and their legal ambiguity has drawn criticism from human rights advocates.
Critics argue that the vagueness of the term makes it ripe for misuse, particularly against women and marginalized voices, as seen in the case of the TikTok girls. They also argue that the term may undermine personal freedoms under broad moral pretexts.
According to population and migration studies expert and president of The Egyptian Society for Migration Studies (EGYMIG), Ayman Zohry, Algerian or Greek societies, along with many more conservative societies, protect personal freedom and privacy without turning people into moral police, which happens in Egypt. Zohry rejects guardianship, whether by religious institutions or those speaking in religion’s name, as a tool of control.
Furthermore, the Tadween Center for Gender Studies argues that Egyptian family values function as a selective weapon, used disproportionately against poor and marginalized women, while remaining silent on violence against women, honor killings, marital rape, and denial of education.
As different opinions about decency and tradition collide, Egyptians emphasize that family remains a central social unit, a source of support, identity, and belonging, even as definitions of what constitutes its “values” evolve in a rapidly changing society.
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