Digital media platforms in Egypt must comply with content standards, legal requirements: media regulation council
The Supreme Council for Media Regulation notified all digital and encrypted satellite platforms they must regularise their status and adhere to content standards in Egypt as it also summoned the legal representative of Amazon Egypt over Amazon Prime’s content.
In a statement, the council informed all digital and satellite platforms that they must comply with the rules and standards required for content displayed to subscribers within Egypt, as well as the conditions for obtaining licenses to operate.
The council added that some such platforms have begun the steps to bring them into compliance, while others have not.
The council, in coordination with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), is exploring technical means under its authority to block all unlicensed platforms within three months.
They also notified the Central Bank of Egypt to stop all bank transfers to illegally operating platforms.
The announcement came in response to the observation that content on Amazon Egypt’s Prime Video platform was inconsistent with the religious values of Egyptian and Arab societies.
No further details were provided about the content in question.
The council summoned the legal representatives of Amazon Egypt and informed them of the issue.
Amazon Egypt deleted the offending content less than 24 hours later.
During the peak season of Ramadan, online streaming in Egypt attracted 41 million viewers per day who cumulatively watched 14 million hours of content per day, according to the NTRA.
This represents an increase of 41 percent compared to the previous year.
