Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of social media in Egypt with a special focus on recent development in infrastructure, legislation, and social and political aspects of the environment within which these media are expected to operate. The chapter argues that while the current government tries to catch the train of technological innovation by investing in the Internet and social media infrastructure, this investment is being undermined by the many laws imposed with the intention of monitoring the cyberspace and crippling netizens. Several consequences and technology-enabled circumvention precautions taken by civil society are also discussed.