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.

Lawmakers such as Khaled Abdel Aziz were critical of parliament’s direction toward regulating Facebook. “In the open age of the 21st century, it is no longer relevant to impose further restrictions on freedoms, especially since we live in a liberal country characterized by a climate of freedom and democracy. Social media is now one of the main pillars of information,” he told Al-Bawaba News on April 2. In turn, parliament member Khaled Youssef criticized the call for legislation to regulate Facebook, stressing that priority should be given to a law governing information flow rather than regulating social media websites.

Meanwhile, other deputies hailed the decision to enact a law regulating Facebook. Among those was Wafd Party representative Mohammad Khalifa, who called for the state to regulate Facebook, arguing that group administrators must disclose their affiliations and determine the purpose of the page posting news. Member of parliament Gamal al-Aqabi requested the shutdown of Facebook and Twitter, at least in the meantime, as these websites fuel violence and damage the country’s economy.