Loophole in anti-cyber crime law discussed

CAIRO – 20 May 2018: A few days ago, Parliament initialed a cybercrime bill aiming at combating the illegal use of computers and information networks. The Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes Law defines commonly used concepts such as “websites, traffic data, digital directory, personal statements and national security”.

Though this bill regulates Internet Service Providers’ (ISPs) activities and their obligation to provide national security authorities with information on users suspected of spreading terrorist and extremist ideologies via the internet and will secure personal data of internet users, it’s criticized for not specifying an article for “taxes” on products sold through the Facebook platform.

No taxes are imposed on millions of sold products via the Facebook platform in the Egyptian market; the newly issued law has not addressed the tax issue. Even the influencers working to promote certain products via their accounts on Facebook should have taxes imposed on them.

“We do not have laws that force Facebook to pay taxes on online advertisement in Egypt,” Youm7 Editor-in-Chief Khaled Salah previously said.

Since November 2015, Egyptian online newspapers have voiced their fears over the future of digital newspapers. Salah published an article on November 17, 2015 about the threats the Egyptian news industry could face as enormous amounts of revenue go to Facebook and Google.

“The online news industry in Egypt and the Arab world may face a major threat from some global social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, Google, etc., which dominate major fields of the advertising market worldwide,” Salah said.

Posting on his Twitter account on June 30, 2016, Salah called on Parliament to impose taxes on Facebook and Google ads.

A number of U.S. media giants formed a coalition under the title “News Media Alliance”, as the two social media companies dominate 70 percent of the digital advertising industry.

Being reachable and accessible for millions of people worldwide, the two social media giants managed to pull a big share of the online ads without paying taxes.

According to the cybercrime law, article 18 offers punishment of not less than one month in prison or a fine of not less than LE 50,000 ($2,800) and not more than LE 100,000 for anyone who breaches or harms someone’s personal email account or website.

Parliament also approved article 9 of the cybercrime law, allowing the Attorney General or specialized investigative authorities to impose travel bans on persons charged of committing or attempting to commit cybercrimes, if enough evidence against them exists.

In April, Parliament’s Communications and Information Technology Committee approved the draft cybercrime law, which aims to pose surveillance on social media and limit the spread of fake news, particularly those that incite violence.