Dakhleya warns press on fake news: The Interior Ministry issued a sharp warning to a number of news outlets that it may resort to “judicial procedures” against publications that spread fake news. The warning released yesterday specifically addressed El Wafd, El Masreyoun, Al Bawaba and Al Masry Al Youm, accusing them of publishing false reports on a bomb in 6 October as well as reports of the ministry dismantling of an explosive device near the sufi Sidi Abdel Rehim mosque on Sunday. Authorities had seized print editions of Al Bawaba newspaper on Monday and Tuesday for calling for the resignation of Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar. Meanwhile, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced a rights lawyer to 10 years in prison and five years of house arrest and a social media ban on charges of using Facebook to “destabilize the general order” and “harm national unity and social peace,” the Associated Press reports. This comes as presidential decree establishing three media regulatory bodies was published in the Official Gazette yesterday, Al Masry Al Youm reports.

Tags: