Mada Masr Says It Applied for a Licence in 2018. A Court Orders It Shut

An Egyptian court has ordered independent news outlet Mada Masr closed and fined its editor, Lina Attalah, three million Egyptian pounds for operating a website without a licence. ^[1][7]

The New Cairo Misdemeanor Court also ordered the confiscation of the outlet's equipment and devices on October 27, 2026. Authorities took Attalah into custody after the hearing, then released her after Mada Masr paid the fine in full, according to the outlet and subsequent accounts. ^[3][5][7]

The ruling threatens one of Egypt's few independent newsrooms with closure after years of unsuccessful efforts to secure a licence. Mada Masr says it applied repeatedly, beginning in 2018, and learned only through prosecutors in 2022 that an application had been rejected without notice. ^[4][5][6]

Human Rights Watch said the conviction followed a single hearing. Mada Masr said the judge rejected defence requests to present evidence and hear witnesses, cleared the courtroom before ruling and appointed a lawyer for Attalah against her wishes. Those descriptions of the proceedings are the outlet's account. ^[1][4][7]

"No journalist should face criminal prosecution for doing their job," said Bassam Khawaja, Human Rights Watch's deputy regional director. ^[4]

The Daily Inference previously reported that prosecutors had sent Attalah to trial for running an unlicensed website and that her newsroom said it had been seeking a licence since 2018.

The court has now imposed the maximum fine available under the relevant provision of Egypt's media law, alongside closure and confiscation. The judgment reaches the newsroom itself and the tools it uses to work. ^[2][7]

A licence sought, a penalty imposed

Egypt's 2018 Press and Media Regulation Law requires websites operating in the country to obtain a licence. Article 105 provides for fines ranging from one million to three million Egyptian pounds, closure and confiscation of equipment for certain violations. ^[2][4][7]

Mada Masr's account describes a prolonged effort to meet that requirement. It applied in 2018 and again in 2020, received no response at the time, then discovered the rejection during questioning by prosecutors in 2022.

It challenged the rejection and submitted another application in 2026, according to Amnesty International. Human Rights Watch said the later application had received no response. ^[4][6]

The licensing system gives the state power over whether a newsroom can operate legally. In this case, the outlet's account describes applications left unanswered, a rejection communicated through prosecutors and, ultimately, criminal punishment for operating without permission. ^[4][6] That sequence makes the administration of licences central to the threat facing the press.

A newsroom can submit an application, but it cannot issue itself a licence. On Mada Masr's account, its attempts to comply depended on a decision from the same state now punishing it for lacking permission. A licensing requirement administered that way gives the authorities leverage over an outlet before any dispute about the truth of its journalism reaches court.

The prosecution moved quickly in October. Prosecutors summoned Attalah on October 19 and questioned her on October 21 over allegations including publishing false news and operating without a licence. They released her on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds. ^[2][4][7]

The eventual fine was 30 times that bail amount. The two payments served different purposes, bail secured release during the prosecution, while the fine was punishment imposed by the court. ^[2][3][4]

The following day, they referred her to trial on the licensing charge. The false-news allegation was not included in that referral, according to Human Rights Watch and Mada Masr. The October 27 conviction was therefore for the website's licensing status. ^[2][4]

Mada Masr said its defence sought to challenge the constitutionality of the media law at the first hearing. ^[2]

A newsroom already under pressure

Egyptian authorities have blocked access to Mada Masr's website inside the country since May 2017, according to Human Rights Watch. The new order goes further, requiring closure and confiscation of equipment rather than restricting domestic access alone. ^[4][5][7]

Human Rights Watch described the prosecution as part of a broader pattern of pressure on Attalah and the outlet. It cited Mada Masr's count of six cases brought against the organisation or its journalists in six years. ^[4]

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Egypt had 25 journalists behind bars as of late October. Two Egyptian lawyers told the organisation that Attalah would remain in custody until the fine was paid. ^[5]

Whether the closure and confiscation orders have been enforced, what has happened to the equipment and whether Mada Masr can continue publishing are not yet established. Egyptian authorities had not publicly commented on the verdict when Al-Monitor published its account, and the Public Prosecutor's Office did not respond to CPJ's inquiry. ^[5][7]

A separate sentence emerges

During the procedures following her release, Attalah learned that she had received a one-year prison sentence in absentia in 2024, meaning she was sentenced without being present in court, for publishing false news and managing an unlicensed website, according to Mada Masr. Her lawyers challenged that ruling. ^[3][7]

That earlier sentence is a separate case from the October 27 conviction. The lawyers are challenging the new verdict too, but the next dated court proceeding is the retrial hearing in the 2024 case, scheduled for November 11, 2026. ^[3][7]