Egypt releases hotlines on fake news
News & Trends •
egypt has established a hotline to gather complaints of fake news in the traditional or electronic media1 the countrys judiciary announced the hotlines with the instruction that only those issues that could pose a threat to national security would be entertained1 two weeks ahead of elections in egypt the media have been under close scrutiny with an increase in cases of journalists being arrested and websites blocked1 the egyptian judiciary has set aside mobile telephone numbers to receive complaints on the instant messaging app whatsapp and by sms so long as the name of the complainant and their personal details are given it said in a statement1 it said the initiative was aimed against premeditated fake information damaging to national security and the countrys interests1 the decision has started generating reactions in the social media with rahmy botros @ramygerges tweeting i am correct in every statement i lived in egypt usa and visited uk walked the streets i tweet what i actually c i dont believe in traditional media sheeple news outlet and social media but lately decided to do my part and try to fight the fake news and stereotype1 sofia ahmed @sofiaas23 said hard to swallow pop star sherine abdel wahab jailed in egypt for fake news after joking about catching parasites from polluted river nile . sherine wahab jailed for nile river joke1 ganzeer @ganzeer call me biased but it seems to me that egypt has been setting the precedent for a number of trends over the past few years. arresting journalists for the dissemination of fake news could very dangerously be one of them1