Region | Egypt
Unease over 'religious' content available to mobile phone users
A wave of Islamist thought sweeping Egypt has begun manifesting in advertisements in local newspapers and on state-owned radio stations.
- By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
- Published: 23:52 September 20, 2008
Cairo: A wave of Islamist thought sweeping Egypt has begun manifesting in advertisements in local newspapers and on state-owned radio stations.
Liberals warn that a state of things where, for instance, downloads of the "best prayers" are chargeable will stoke sectarianism in a country where Muslim-Christian tensions are not uncommon.
"Egyptian - both Muslims and Christians - are religious by nature. But the exploitation of gadgetry like mobile phones and MP3s augurs ill for this country," said Hamdy Abbas, a liberal researcher.
"The Christians too are being offered downloadable hymns and verses from the Bible. Each side is apparently at pains to assert its religious identity. This consecrates sectarianism," he told Gulf News.
The government recently banned the public display of religious symbols in private cars apparently in response to a spate of communal incidents. But the National Communication Regulatory Agency (NCRA) has no authority to vet content accessible through cellphones. "Our job is only to ensure service providers stick to a certain level of quality," said Ali Al Sherbini, head of the National Communication Institute.
"This over-emphasis on religious identity is due to the eagerness of people to escape economic and social woes," said Suheir Sanad, a sociologist at the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research in Cairo.
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