Egypt blocks financial newspaper website

Egypt has blocked the website of one of its most prominent financial newspapers, the paper’s owner said on Sunday, expanding a media blackout initiated last week to curb what authorities called support for “terrorism” and fake news.

The censorship of Al-Boursa, a widely read financial newspaper that generally avoids politics and reflects the views of a largely pro-state business community, suggests a more expansive attempt to control private media coverage.

The website of Al-Boursa’s sister publication, the English-language Daily News Egypt, was also blocked, a statement by parent company Business News said.

“Al-Boursa and Daily News Egypt newspapers express their strong condemnation for the ongoing government campaign to restrict them,” it said.

Egypt blocked access to a number of news websites including Al Jazeera and Huffington Post Arabic on Wednesday after similar actions by its Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Last month, Cairo declared a three-month state of emergency after two suicide bombings at Coptic churches killed more than 45.

In an address ushering in a new era of martial law just after the attacks, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned the press to be careful in its reporting.

Business News said the decision to block its sites came as a surprise because they were not among the 21 blocked last week.

The company had its assets frozen last December for alleged ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, a charge it denies.

“We point out that all information on our company, its shareholders, financial statements and contracts are available to all relevant government entities,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Websites such as Mada Masr, an Egyptian news website that describes itself as progressive, were also blocked last week.