Egypt Disinformation Profile

Egypt Domestic Disinformation

In Egypt accusations of "Fake news" by the government are often used to silence journalists or critics.

El Fagr Network

In 2020 Twitter took down 2,541 accounts of the El Fagr network as they used fake accounts to amplify narratives which criticized Iran, Qatar, and Turkey.

Hashtags after Mohamed Ali's corruption allegations

In 2019 Mohamed Ali a former military contractor and TV actor alleged that there was corruption in the military, which led to protests. Over the course of 2020 it was discovered that both pro-regime and anti-regime forces were using coordinated inauthentic behavior. The anti-regime forces made it appear that there were widespread protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime while the pro-regime forces demonstrates support for al-Sisi.

COVID-19 Disinformation

COVID-19 disinformation tends to fall into four categories according to an analysis by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy 1. false claims about the virus or vaccines 2. false claims about the government response to COVID 3. information that is inaccurately contextualized 4. conspiracy theories. Some rumors claimed that schools had shut down and schools were being converted into hospitals.

The Egyptian Government fabricated multiple stories that other countries were praising them, in Italy for sending aid, in France praising the president's response, and the Swiss military praising Egyptian medical supplies.