Cairo -

Reporters Without Borders said that some prominent figures loyal to the authority in Egypt and the state-controlled media are helping to launch defamation campaigns against the remaining journalists in the country critical of the authority, while Egyptian broadcasters rejected what they described as the accusations of the international organization.

In a 27-page report entitled “Dolls of President Sisi,” the State Organization for the Protection of Journalists pointed to the hidden side of violations committed against journalists in Egypt, and the intolerable work environment due to campaigns of hate, bullying and defamation, adding that “these attacks are carried out under the supervision of state agencies. The Egyptian media, with the collusion of broadcasters who are among the stars of the media scene in the country.”

Reporters Without Borders collected dozens of offensive and false headlines targeting independent journalists in Egyptian newspapers and websites. Where they resort to all methods and methods to discredit their professional or personal life.

In addition to the violations that Reporters Without Borders usually monitors and documents, many Egyptian correspondents - according to the report - express their dissatisfaction with the media campaigns directed against them, as these publications create an unbearable environment for them, forcing them to hide in order to avoid being pushed into Prison, knowing that 4 of them refer in the report to the severe consequences this climate leaves on their work and daily life, which makes practicing their profession almost impossible.

Infographic about the Egyptian president's relationship with the media (Reporters Without Borders)

Reporters Without Borders highlighted the coordinated and systematic work of these media campaigns, explaining that this type of attack follows the same pattern, as well-known broadcasters are behind them defaming independent journalists on widely popular channels, which are originally controlled TV stations. control of state agencies.

According to the Reporters Without Borders report, Ahmed Moussa embodies the model of the famous broadcaster who fiercely defends the government, who almost becomes its spokesman and mouthpiece, and who put all his influence in the service of the authority.

The report clarified that within a few hours, broadcasters' statements against journalists spread like wildfire across all media platforms, and the targeted journalists find themselves immersed in articles that convey these accusations and insults to the letter.

The report stated that Egypt ranks 168th (out of 180 countries) on the table of the World Press Freedom Index, which was published by Reporters Without Borders in 2022.

While the Egyptian government did not comment on the international report, broadcasters criticized the report sharply, as lawyer and former broadcaster Khaled Abu Bakr said that he spoke with the Syndicate of Journalists Diaa Rashwan to respond to the report through the Journalists Syndicate and the State Information Service (governmental).

During a telephone interview with the program “Bel Paper Al Qalam” broadcast on the TEN satellite channel, Abu Bakr added that the media, which had a position on June 30, 2013, was “a hero. Those who mobilized citizens, and we had difficult tasks ahead, and it was patriotism to rally around President Sisi at this time, which some called the absence of criticism in favor of the state.

In turn, parliamentarian and broadcaster Mustafa Bakri rejected what he described as the accusations contained in the report, stressing that Egyptian media professionals are defending their country, and that they are the first to defend media freedom so that they can exercise their role.

In his program "Facts and Secrets" broadcast on "Sada Al-Balad" channel, Bakri said that a distinction must be made between freedom and chaos, and that "Reporters Without Borders" defends the killers and those who are hostile to the national state.

Reporters Without Borders: The Egyptian media is a game in the hands of Sisi to distort opponents pic.twitter.com/F9GLBex3RR

— Monitor Network (@RassdNewsN) July 2, 2022

Under the name “Sisi’s Dolls”,


the “Reporters Without Borders” organization accuses the Sisi regime’s media and TV presenters of engaging in a campaign of smear, defamation and an attack launched by the state against journalists in Egypt;

Where many of them are in prisons pic.twitter.com/Hk7aTZKa59

— Egypt Window (@EgyptWindowN) July 1, 2022

A report issued by Reporters Without Borders monitored organized smear campaigns launched by pro-state media against journalists who perform their work in a country where “any criticism of the government is a crime,” according to the report.

— Mada Masr Mada Masr (@MadaMasr) July 2, 2022

Reporters Without Borders: The #Sisi regime is using the media to incite and distort opposition journalists @M_nasseraly pic.twitter.com/Ron6GrMhuc

— The Lens (@TheLensPost) June 30, 2022