Two weeks ago, the Egyptian government announced that it would be developing its own state-run social media site similar to Facebook. The platform has arrived and it's called "EgFace."
The move to create Egypt's version of Facebook was unveiled by the country's Telecommunications Minister Yasser ElKady on March 12. ElKady stated that the creation of an Egyptian version of Facebook stemmed from a need to protect the public and combat extremism online, also adding that it had the potential to make Egypt a major player in the social media realm internationally, reports Arab News.
"Egypt must have its own Facebook so we, as an Egyptian government, can protect data and citizens and the stability of the state," said ElKady during the announcement.
Egyptians have criticized the platform as an attempt by the government and the country’s intelligence agencies to collect information on the opposition. Egypt’s presidential elections are scheduled to take place March 26-28.
Egypt has the highest number of Facebook users of any Arab country, with over 33 million people registered (vs 96 million population) on the site.
