Legalized Authoritarianism: How Egypt's lawmakers codify oppression

Abstract

T he Egyptian Parliament is considering a bill to require residents to submit their names, ID numbers, and email addresses to a federal authority before using social media. Under this law, an errant tweet could result in a six-month prison sentence and $275 fine. As of May, the provisions are still under discussion. While the act seems unlikely to pass, it is not without support—at least 60 out of 596 parliamentarians have endorsed it. LEGALIZED AUTHORITARIANISM: HOW EGYPT’S LAWMAKERS CODIFY OPPRESSION