With journalists imprisoned and the press silenced, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi used the Egypt Forum to threaten the press

Three weeks after his security services arrested the entire fact-checking team at Matsada2sh, whose six journalists remain in detention, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has sent another sinister message to the country's journalists. It was delivered in the form of a government-produced video shown during the opening ceremony of the Egypt Forum, a lavishly staged national conference held in the new administrative capital near Cairo from 19-24 October to showcase the president's achievements. In the video, a man in a dark room, surrounded by digital graphics, warns of the dangers posed by a fictional fact-checking website that he claims manipulates information. "Sharing a video is not just about clicking a button," he says, pointing to the fictional website. "Sharing means believing in it [...]", he adds. While the reference to Matsada2sh- meaning "Don't believe it"-was already flagrant, the slogan at the end of the video, "Matshayyarsh," meaning "Don't share," rhymed perfectly with the website's name. Meanwhile, the outlet's entire editorial team languishes in prison simply for doing their job.

Seated in the front row of the audience, the president praised the video: "Some people," he said, without specifying whom, "are capable of identifying and isolating users [of social media]. By manipulating one person, they can manipulate public opinion as a whole [...] and destroy a country." In his improvised speech, Field Marshal el-Sisi once again used conspiracy theories as a pretext to justify his policy of repression. Since he came to power in 2013, this policy has turned Egypt into one of the world's largest prisons for journalists.

At the very moment he was delivering this speech, his security services were issuing a summons to journalist Lina Attalah. The editor-in-chief of Mada Masr was subsequently interrogated for six hours on 21 October before being released on bail. Her case was referred to court, with an "urgent" hearing scheduled for 27 October. She is accused of operating an unlicensed website. However, Mada Masr had duly completed the necessary procedures but had not been notified that its application for an operating licence had been rejected in 2018. The outlet has been challenging this decision in court since 2022, but the case remains unresolved.

Meanwhile, the journalists from Matsada2sh are accused of spreading "false information," "misusing social media", and "belonging to a terrorist organisation," following confessions allegedly extracted under torture, according to their lawyers. As per the outlet, these unfounded accusations are the same ones levelled against most journalists detained in the country.

A fact-checking coalition to defend press freedom

Despite the detention of 26 journalists and a muzzled press, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi seeks to reassure his audience at the event: "None of the data presented to you will be incomplete, inaccurate, or doubtful." The audience has no choice but to take him at his word.

In response to the crackdown and the president's claims, a coalition of eight newsrooms based in four countries-Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia-has come together to continue Matsada2sh's work remotely and fact-check the information presented at the conference.

"We're following these sessions online, and they seem highly scripted," says Samir Skayni, deputy editor-in-chief of Lebanon-based news website Megaphone News. "We joined this initiative to defend press freedom and show solidarity with our colleagues at other newsrooms across the region who, like us, are fighting authoritarian regimes."

Working for a Lebanese media outlet allows for greater freedom of coverage, he says: "We can make use of the relative freedom we enjoy in Lebanon to push the boundaries of what can be said in Egypt and support our Egyptian colleagues." He warns that if attacks against Matsada2sh and Lina Attalah do not prompt an adequate response from journalists in neighbouring countries, they could further intensify the crackdown on independent journalism in Egypt.

The absence of the Egyptian fact-checking website leaves a gap in the independent media landscape. The situation remains concerning for the Matsada2sh journalists: despite revelations by their lawyers, the Egyptian government denies that the six journalists were tortured.

Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2026 World Press Freedom Index.