Egypt plans new controls on social media

The Egyptian government is considering radical new proposals to restrict citizens' access to social media.

A draft bill circulated in Egyptian newspapers would require users to register with the government to access sites including Twitter and Facebook. Successful applicants would receive a login linked to their national ID. Unauthorized use could result in prison sentences and heavy fines.

The draft was authored by MP Reyad Abdel Sattar of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, the largest party in parliament with 65 of 596 seats. He told the Egypt Independent it would: "facilitate state surveillance over social networks in Egypt by making users enroll in a government-run electronic system that will grant them permission to access Facebook."

Sattar said the reforms were necessary to combat terrorism and incitement against the state. He claims to have the support of 60 fellow MPs as the bill goes to parliamentary committees for review.

Chilling effect

Civil society groups are alarmed by the implications of the proposed law.

"This will have a big impact by controlling what people say and don't say," says Wafa-Ben Hassine of digital rights group Access Now. "Government issued IDs are linked to a plethora of activities including driving, banking, and medical services so the government will have much more information about users' whereabouts."

The April 6 Youth Movement denounced the proposal in a scathing Facebook post:

"Unfortunately these ideas are outdated...The whole world has gone beyond the idea of banning the Internet."

MP Abdel Sattar did not respond to a CNN request for comment. An official from the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said the department was not involved with Sattar's plans.

Technical hurdles

Even if the bill becomes law, it could be derailed by technical challenges.

Implementing and policing a firewall around the Facebook domain would be resource-intensive. Technically proficient users could likely still bypass security to access the site.

The scale of the registration operation would also be a huge challenge for the government.

"One-third of Egyptians use Facebook so about 30 million people would be submitting requests for permission," says Wafa Ben-Hassine of digital rights group Access Now. "I doubt the Egyptian government has the capacity to do that. The sheer bureaucratic weight of the initiative is not feasible."

The plan would also require the cooperation of social networks. A spokesperson for Facebook would not comment.