Egypt's media blackout on Sinai

Ever since the beginning of the military operation that began in the Sinai Peninsula after the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, against what the army called "extremist elements," there has been a media blackout regarding the events going on in this vital part of Egypt and the crises that its citizens are suffering from.

According to Mustafa Senger, a political activist from the Sinai, one of the most important problems is that mobile phone and Internet networks have stopped working. He told Al-Monitor there has not been consistent mobile phone and Internet coverage since the beginning of the army crackdown in July 2013, and that since August, connections have been cut in the Sinai daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The cutting off of communications has not just prevented citizens from contacting one another; it also means they cannot carry out transactions in government agencies and banks, which rely on Internet access. Sinai residents now have to travel to Ismailiyah, located about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) from the nearest Sinai cities, to have official papers stamped, obtain ID cards and carry out other business. What is even more dangerous is that this communications cutoff could lead to someone dying, since residents are unable to contact an ambulance to assist the sick or someone injured in a car accident.

The crisis in the Sinai Peninsula referred to by Senger has been met with silence on the part of the Egyptian public. Moreover, according to him, the majority of Egyptians know nothing about the injustice citizens in the Sinai are subjected to, as a result of the media blackout that is being imposed on everything that occurs in the region. He added that this blackout is carried out under the pretext that the situation in the Sinai is the exclusive purview of the armed forces, and that the army is an institution that cannot err and would never oppress residents.