FILE - Soliman Wahdan, deputy Parliament speakerCAIRO - 8 March 2019: Soliman Wahdan, deputy Parliament speaker, said that he is working to introduce a draft to put an end to rumors issued by some people and groups to destabilize the Egyptian state.He said that these "terrorist" groups assign a number of research centers to study rumors and spread them across the country. 188 of the penal code, those who spread fake news, statements, or rumors, would be sentenced to one year in prison at most, and would have to pay a minimum of LE 5,000 ($286) and a maximum of LE 20,000 ($1,145) as a fine. They can also be punished by only one of these two penalties.In July 2018, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi warned against false news clarifying that more than 21,000 rumors have been propagated over a period of three months. "The danger of fake news nowadays lies in their ability to spread rapidly over the internet through social media platforms and websites of high traffic.In August, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat announced the Cabinet’s approval of a draft law aiming to protect personal data.According to official reports, the law protects citizens’ “fully or partially electronically treated personal data. "In a press statement following the meeting, Talaat said that the law prohibits gathering or processing individuals’ personal data or spreading them by any means without the permission of the concerned individuals, except in cases authorized legally.Talaat affirmed the country’s keenness to attract international and regional investments in the field of database centers and to establish legally protected data centers.

Source: Egypt Today March 08, 2019 10:07 UTC