Egypt blocked Facebook internet service over surveillance

Egypt blocked Facebook Free Basics Internet service at the end of last year after the U.S. company refused to give the Egyptian government the ability to spy on users, according to sources.

Free Basics, launched in Egypt in October, is aimed at low income customers, allowing anyone with a cheap computer or smartphone to create a Facebook account and access a limited set of Internet services at no charge.

The Egyptian government suspended the service on Dec. 30 and said at the time that the mobile carrier Etisalat had only been granted a temporary permit to offer the service for two months.

Two people in with direct knowledge of discussions between Facebook and the Egyptian government said Free Basics was blocked because the company would not allow the government to circumvent the service’s security to conduct surveillance.

They declined to say exactly what type of access the government had demanded or what practices it wanted Facebook to change.

A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment.

Mohamed Hanafi, a spokesman for Egypt’s Ministry of Communication, declined to comment specifically on the allegation about surveillance demands but cited other reasons for Free Basics to be blocked.

“The service was offered free of charge to the consumer, and the national telecommunication regulator saw the service as harmful to companies and their competitors,” he said.

Free Basics, which is available in 37 countries that have large populations without reliable Internet service, is central to Facebook’s global strategy.

The company does not sell ads on the Free Basics version of its website and app, but it aims to reach a large group of potential users who otherwise would not be able to create Facebook accounts.

Facebook said more than three million Egyptians used the service before it was suspended, and 1 million of them had never had Internet access.

The main Facebook site and app are still available in Egypt, which has a population of about 90 million.

The conflict over Free Basics highlights the delicate balancing act that global Internet companies face in responding to the demands of governments while protecting the privacy of their customers, especially at a time of heightened concerns about Internet surveillance and censorship worldwide.

It represents one of the few known cases in which a global Internet company has received and rejected a government demand for special access to its network and been forced to shut down a service, Internet privacy experts say.

Free Basics has come under fire from Internet activists across the globe, most notably in India, for violating net neutrality by allowing free access to a select group of websites and businesses, thus putting others at a disadvantage.

Indian regulators issued new rules in February that effectively barred Free Basics after a two-month public consultation process.

Hanafi cited the India example in explaining Egypt’s move, but there has been no public debate or regulatory proceeding over net neutrality or the competitive impact of Free Basics in Egypt.

Egyptian student to be deported after saying he is 'ready to kill Donald Trump'

LOS ANGELES: An Egyptian student attending flight school in California is facing deportation after posting a message on Facebook saying he was ready to kill Donald Trump.
Emadeldin Elsayed, 23, was arrested by federal agents on February 12 at the Los Angeles-area flight school he was attending after posting what authorities said was a death threat against the leading Republican presidential candidate.
“I am willing to kill Donald Trump and serve a life sentence. The whole world would thank me for doing that,” Elsayed wrote on his Facebook page, according to his attorney Hani Bushra.
Although authorities did not file any criminal charges against Elsayed, an immigration judge earlier this week ordered he be deported on grounds the flight school had terminated his enrolment and as such his student visa was no longer valid.
The judge also refused to release Elsayed on bail after prosecutors argued he posed a flight risk.
Bushra told AFP Thursday that although his client had shown poor judgment in his Facebook posting, he by no means meant to harm Trump and regretted his actions.
“He is just a kid who did something stupid,” he said. “This was more angry rhetoric similar to rhetoric that perhaps is even used by Mr Donald Trump himself when he says things like we are going to kill the family members of terrorists and their children and their wives.
“I don’t think he really means that and I don’t think my client meant what he said.”
Bushra said Elsayed’s Facebook message was in response to Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and was accompanied by an article on the issue.
“It was a foolish thing to do given the (atmosphere) in the country right now,” Bushra said. “It was just an angry response.”
He said a hearing on the deportation proceedings is scheduled on Friday and that at this point, all his client wants is time to get his affairs in order before leaving the country.
“He has paid $41,000 in tuition and all he wants is some kind of reprieve to get his belongings, sell his car and talk to the school owner about getting reimbursed,” he said.
“And then he just wants to leave the country.”