Egypt

When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, the world watched the horrors of conflict on live television. It caused a massive leap in media. When the Internet became widely accessible later that decade, the exchange of information in a single second signaled the dawn of another new age. News not only proliferated, it could be seen by anyone with online access. At the start of the new millennium, blogs became an easy and open way for anyone to write free of restrictions or censorship, about any topic of interest, be it personal, technical, economic, politically oppositional, or in support of a specific cause.

In our special report “Middle East Bloggers: The Street Leads Online,” CPJ’s Mohamed Abdel Dayem says blogging has become a crucial front in the region's struggle for freedom of expression. Here, Abdel Dayem describes how two regional trends--booming Internet audiences and repression of traditional media--have made blogging a vibrant news alternative. Listen to the mp3 on the player above, or right click here to download. (2:05)  

A piece in the Columbia Journalism Review raised questions about CPJ's support of several bloggers in Egypt. The article draws a distinction between journalists who report facts and bloggers who deal in opinion and the promotion of causes. In a companion piece, CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney argues that in a country like Egypt, where freedom of expression is under constant assault, bloggers fill a vacuum and need our support.

New York, July 24, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Egyptian authorities today to explain why they have detained three bloggers this week without charge.  

Dear Mr. President: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing ahead of your scheduled speech in Cairo on June 4 to bring to your attention important matters that are crucial to the long-term success of your stated goal of engaging the people--and not just the regimes--of the Arab and Muslim worlds.

On Thursday, I participated in a panel discussion about media in the Middle East at the United Nations to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. Other panellists included Alya Al-Thani, counsellor, Permanent Mission of Qatar to the United Nations; Abderrahim Foukara, chief of the Washington Bureau of Al-Jazeera; Ebtihal Mubarak, journalist...

CPJ names the worst online oppressors. Booming online cultures in many Asian and Middle Eastern nations have led to aggressive government repression. Burma leads the dishonor roll....

In our special report, “10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger,” CPJ names the world’s leading online oppressors. Here, Deputy Director Robert Mahoney explains why CPJ undertook this report and how it arrived at its conclusions. Listen to the mp3 on the player above, or right click here to...

Dear Mr. President: CPJ is writing to protest the relentless campaign of persecution against Internet journalists and bloggers by Egypt's various security services. Regrettably, the routine harassment and detention of bloggers, according to CPJ research, is only one element of an overall decline in press freedom in Egypt in recent years.