CAIRO — Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court, headed by Judge Ahmed Abu al-Azm, the president of the Egyptian State Council, issued May 26 a final ruling obliging the Egyptian National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to block YouTube for one month. The ruling came in response to YouTube hosting promotional trailers from June 2012 of a film that disparages the Prophet Muhammad. Yet questions remain about whether or not the Egyptian government will implement the ban.
The film, called "Innocence of Muslims," is produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian who resides in the United States. Segments of the film were first released on YouTube in June 2012, which prompted Egyptian lawyer Mohammed Hamed Salem to file a lawsuit against the website. While an initial ruling was issued on Feb. 9, 2013, to shut down YouTube for a month, the government appealed the ruling.
Five years later, the Supreme Administrative Court, which is the highest court in the country and whose rulings are binding on the government, has now supported the initial ruling of Egypt’s Administrative Court to close Google’s YouTube site, as the video sparked a storm of violent protests in the country, leaving hundreds injured.
Salem told Al-Monitor that the ruling is an act of revenge for the dignity of the Egyptians.
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