The State Council rejected a case filed by lawyer Samir Sabry demanding the closure of Rassd News Network (RNN) on Sunday.
In September, the State Commissioners Authority issued a report that recommends rejecting the case, with reference to the 2014 constitution which ensures freedom of expression.
Sabry demanded in his lawsuit that the minister of interior shut down RNN for its involvement in attacks against the state and for taking part in an international conspiracy against Egypt. He had also accused Amr Farrag, the chief editor of RNN, of solely publishing false news that aims to cause strife between Egyptians and political leaders.
This is not the first report that Sabry has filed against RNN. Since 2013 he has filed several reports against them. In October 2013, the then prosecutor general ordered an investigation into one of the reports which accused RNN of publishing fake videos of the Egyptian Armed Forces.
Sabry has sued many others representing oppositional voices, accusing them of inciting violence. On 26 January, Sabry filed a report to the general prosecutor against TV reporter Shady Ahmed and actor Ahmed Malek for publishing a sarcastic video of them giving away inflated condoms to police conscripts on the fifth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution.
He also filed a report against other journalists, including editor-in-chief of state run newspaper Al-Ahram, Ahmed Sayed Al-Naggar, for publishing a story on the Ultras White Knights.
RNN was created during the 25 January Revolution in 2011 and was the first news platform to report feed from the protests amid a gag on mainstream media.
After the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government in July 2013, RNN began taking a different approach to publishing news. It has been frequently using terms such as “coup” to refer to the events of 2013 and also in reference to government officials.
