The head of the Communication and Information Technology Committee of the Egyptian parliament, Ahmad Zeidan, told the daily Youm 7 late last month that his committee is working on legislation to regulate social media websites — Facebook in particular — in coordination with other committees that might be involved in the issue, such as the Information, Defense and National Security committees.
Parliament member Gamal Abdel Nasser had already called on April 4 for enacting a law with the purpose of “dealing with violations on Facebook since it has been infringing on freedoms,” saying, “The West sold us Facebook only to blackmail us.” In a statement that gave rise to controversy in Egypt, Abdel Nasser urged the ministers of interior and telecommunications to monitor Facebook violations and take immediate action against them. Shortly after that, Speaker Ali Abel Aal said, “The parliament will soon enact a law to regulate the use of Facebook and Twitter,” thus moving the debate from the streets to the parliament.
