They Block Blogs now in Egypt !!

The last time I wrote about websites being blocked in Egypt when they were only 93 websites in June.
A whole month passed and the list of websites in Egypt increased madly that it became a necessity to have a VPN on your computer or mobile phone if you are a journalist.
Now the number of websites blocked in Egypt reached 133 websites according to Cairo-based human rights law firm Association for Freedom of Thoughts and Expression “AFTE”
The latest two websites to blocked in Egypt are Arab Network for Human rights information “ANHRI”  and journalist Ahmed Gamal Ziada’s personal blog.

I am not surprised to find ANHRI joined the blocked website as its executive director, famous human rights activist Gamal Eid is currently banned from travel and his assets have been frozen for several months now. Eid is currently investigated along with other prominent human right activists like
Hossam Bahgat and Mozn Hassan in the
infamous foreign funding to Egyptian NGOs for several months ago.

I must not forget here to speak about Gamal Eid’s personal project which is a series of children libraries in highly populated working poor class areas in Nile Delta and Cairo was closed down.
Yes, Karma library or dignity library for children was closed down by security orders in Cairo and Nile delta governorates.
Egypt’s official candidate for UNESCO’s secretary general position, former ambassador Moshira Khattab announced her rejection for the closure of the libraries and even visited one of those libraries but the government did not care.
Back to the blocked websites that increase now by the week instead of the day.
ANHRI is considered the fourth human rights NGO website to blocked in Egypt after Sinai Organization for human rights, Al-Jazeera center for public freedoms and human rights and the Arab Monitor for media freedom.

In a very alarming development, journalist Ahmed Gamal Ziada’s personal blog was blocked in Egypt.
This is the first time a personal blog in Egypt is blocked like that. Ziada was using his blog to share his news reports to overcome the block imposed on the Websites he used to write for including Masr Al-Arabia website.
Ziada, a photojournalist and a writer spent more than 486 days in pre-trial detention in Egypt since December 2013 after his arrest in a student protest in Al-Azhar University.
He was acquitted along other 12 defendants in the same case in April 2015. He was initially accused of illegal protesting and assaulting officers. Since his release and Ziada has become an activist who defends detainees rights and more vocal against the current regime.

Another political website has been blocked lately despite it was just released recently somehow. This website is “Bel -Ahmar” or “In Red" and it is an independent leftist theoretical website dedicated to op-eds and leftist analytical pieces.
It is not a news website but I think words like “revolution”, “labor rights”, “human rights” and “Military rule” as well the names of the writers from leftists terrified whoever runs the blocking show.
“Bel-Ahmar” is founded by a group of veteran Egyptian leftists above them the veteran journalist and former editor in chief of Ahram Weekly and Ahram Online Hani Shukrallah.
Leaving the leftist website, I do not remember if I spoke here about how football and sports website Kora Arabia was blocked.

Up till now, there has been no direct official statement or order to ban those websites.
The head of journalists syndicate Abdel Mohsen Salama has not managed to lift the ban on websites like Mada Misr, Daily News Egypt and Al-Mesryoon that are operating legally in the country despite his promises before.

The mainstream media is ignoring the whole matter completely in a shameful way. As the mainstream media has not covered the websites ban as it should in Egypt, most people ignore that there are websites that are banned.
it is frustrating for real.