Egypt: Authorities must end crackdown on individuals discussing religious beliefs online
The Egyptian authorities have intensified their crackdown on religious expression online in recent months, said Amnesty International today, calling on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release 23 people arbitrarily detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of religion and belief.
Over the past six months, security forces have arbitrarily arrested at least 29 people, including one woman, aged between 18 and their late fifties, across six governorates for having posted online content expressing religious views that do not align with state-sanctioned religious narratives, or simply for being members of social media groups discussing atheism and agnosticism and criticising mainstream religious beliefs. They are being investigated in connection with bogus charges of “contempt of religions” and “joining a group established in violation of law”. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison.
“Posting religious views online or taking part in discussions about belief or non-belief is not a crime. Yet the Egyptian authorities have intensified their crackdown on those discussing religious matters online in breach of the country’s international human rights obligations and more specifically the commitments the authorities made regarding freedom of religion during the country’s 2025 Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council,” said Mahmoud Shalaby, Egypt and Libya Researcher at Amnesty International.
