Egypt’s National Press Authority said on Friday the closure of some state-owned newspapers was temporary due to security update, and not to lower expenditure of electronic media as reported in several media outlets, according to Al-Ahram.
The closure is just temporarily until completing upgrading these websites, said the authority, explaining that there were several attempts to hack some of these sites, and that it had contracted a major cyber security company to upgrade the online security systems for the websites, as part of its plan to develop online journalism in Egypt.
The statement denied the rumours of alleged permanent closure of state-owned news websites as an attempt to undermine the freedom of the press and media in Egypt.
It further noted that recent decisions taken by the authority to appoint editors-in-chief to run state-run news websites, and to grant online journalist membership in Journalists Syndicate, show its intention to comprehensively develop online journalism in the country.
“The partial closure is for a definite period dependant on the completion of the steps of securing and protecting the sites as part of the plan to develop the electronic media, develop advertising and services, and recruit cadres that could perform these tasks.
