Egypt was named one of the world’s “enemies of the Internet” by a media rights watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in a report published Thursday.
The media rights watchdog said they were concerned with internet censorship and other threats globally to freedom of online expression.
The “Enemies of the Internet” report listed 12 nations that RSF said had systematically restricted their people from accessing online news and information that t he governments deem “undesirable”.
Also on the list with Egypt are China, Burma, North Korea, Vietnam, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba and Tunisia.
According to the report, RSF argues that these nations not only “restrict access to Web sites, but also persecute computer users for what they post online”.
In Egypt, this has been seen in the crackdown of bloggers recently in connection with criticisms over how Cairo handled Israel’s 23-day war on Gaza earlier this year.
A number of bloggers were arrested over their writings and some remain behind bars weeks after their arrest.
The US State Department has also expressed concern about Internet freedom and in recent years began assessing internet censorship and harassment of online dissidents.