On Thursday, the Egyptian Official Gazette published a new law issued by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, concerning the organization of the General Meteorological Authority.
The law provides for a fine penalty of at least 50,000 pounds and at most 5 million pounds, for “anyone who provides meteorological services of any kind without the Egyptian Meteorological Authority, or without obtaining a license from it”.
The same penalty applies to anyone who “posts erroneous weather or meteorological information on social media, or through any means of publication”.
The explanatory memorandum to the law states that its purpose is to “preserve the capabilities of the state and reduce the magnitude of losses resulting from the publication of false news or the dissemination of inaccurate weather data and information, which may hurt the economy.”
Controversy has erupted over the purpose of the law and whether it would be used to prosecute anyone posting information about the weather in Egypt, and the government’s preparations for it, via social media platforms.
The real purpose of the law
However, the director of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority’s Analysis and Forecasting Department, Mahmoud Shaheen, told Sky News Arabia:
• The purpose of the law is to regulate the work of the General Meteorological Authority, as it is an entity like other government agencies that have their own laws.
• The provisions of the law were approved in Parliament and ratified by the President of the Republic and published in the Official Gazette on Thursday, but it will only come into force after the publication of its implementing regulations.
• The executive regulations will not be published for 6 months, and they will clarify and explain the provisions of the law, how to apply them to the Meteorological Authority and to all those who deal with it and with its specializations and data.
• The law is not intended to harass or punish anyone, but the goal is above all organizational.
No chasing weather news editors
And while the law will be enforced against those who post or share weather news or images on social media platforms, Shaheen said, “The Meteorological Authority will not sue or sue citizens on Facebook or Facebook. other social networking sites. It’s not going to happen and it doesn’t make sense from the ground up, nor the purpose of the law.
He stressed that “the main intention is not to publish information or data that would call into question the credibility of the Meteorological Authority and make it responsible or suspicious towards the people and the government”.
And he explained that “putting the Meteorological Authority in a position of suspicion is, for example, saying that it issues misleading data or news, and in this case the person who makes this interrogation will not be held responsible. without ascertaining its intention and whether it was deliberate or was done spontaneously, or if it had political ends. ” or not “.
He concluded: “Social media pages, as well as websites specializing in the publication of weather information, will have to coordinate with the Meteorological Authority under the new law, so that their managers are not held responsible.” .
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