Egypt has the world’s sixth-harshest blasphemy law, stricter than Saudi Arabia, according to a list by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom cited by The Economist (paywall). Iran and Pakistan have the strictest laws against blasphemy globally. “The countries were assessed on the basis of the harshness of their penalties, the vagueness or precision of the offence, and the degree to which the blasphemy laws underpinned discrimination against some religious groups.” The Economist adds that “Pakistan and Egypt were among the countries found to be using blasphemy laws as a form of anti-minority oppression.” Overall, 71 countries punish blasphemy in some form. A surprise entry on the list is Canada with the ninth mildest, although Canadian law explicitly upholds the right to robust religious debate, as long as it is conducted in “good faith and decent language.”