CAIRO — Egyptian Ramadan TV series have an extensive record of controversy between state authorities and TV channels: Are they in line with family values, customs and traditions? Do they reflect society well or do they harm Egypt’s image abroad?

Faced with this recurrent debate, the Egyptian Supreme Council for the Administration of the Media established in December a specialized committee to monitor TV series and weed out the ones that are against the country's customs and traditions. The decision raised criticism and concern within Egyptian artistic and cultural circles, as well as questions about the future of Egyptian drama.

At the committee’s third meeting Jan. 3, in the presence of the heads of Egyptian satellite channels, the participants agreed that the TV channels will not sign a contract or broadcast any drama productions that have not previously received a permit from the General Directorate for the Censorship of Artistic Works, a body that reviews the scripts of films and drama series and gives them permits to shoot.

In the past, the directorate had expressed dissatisfaction that the satellite channels did not care whether the series they aired had this permit or not. Amid last Ramadan’s controversy on the series aired on TV, the directorate’s head, Khaled Abdel Jalil, complained in an interview with Shorouk News on May 28, 2017, about his inability to stop the broadcasting of series that do not hold a permit, as the censorship body has no legal authority over the channels.