Egypt orders closure of Mada Masr as court convicts editor Lina Attalah

An Egyptian court convicted Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of independent news outlet Mada Masr, of operating a website without a license on Tuesday, fining her 3 million Egyptian pounds (around $53,400) and ordering the outlet's closure and the confiscation of its equipment.

What happened: According to Mada Masr's account of the hearing, the court rejected the defense's requests to review case documents and hear witnesses before asking Attalah's lawyers to present their closing arguments. The defense team declined, saying the court had failed to address its requests.

Mada Masr reported that the judge appointed a lawyer to represent Attalah despite the presence of her own defense team. Attalah objected to the appointment, but the judge refused to record her objection in the session's minutes, the outlet said.

The court found Attalah guilty and imposed the maximum penalty. It also ordered Mada Masr's website, which the Egyptian government has blocked since 2017, be shut down and its equipment confiscated.

After the verdict was announced, security personnel surrounded Attalah and carried her out of the courtroom. She remains in custody, Mada Masr reported.

Egyptian authorities had not publicly commented on the verdict at the time of publication.

The conviction came less than a week after prosecutors charged Attalah with establishing and managing a website without a license. She was summoned for questioning on Oct. 19 and questioned for more than six hours on Oct. 21 over the outlet's licensing status and a recent report about protests in Egyptian prisons. Prosecutors released her on bail that evening but scheduled her trial for the following day. A separate charge of publishing false news was not included in the proceedings, according to Mada Masr.

Background: The case centers on Egypt's 2018 Press and Media Regulation Law, which requires websites operating in the country to obtain a license from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation. Article 105 allows fines of 1 million to 3 million Egyptian pounds as well as the closure of a website and confiscation of equipment for certain violations. The law allows the fine to be doubled for repeat violations.

Mada Masr launched in 2013 and has reported on issues including Egypt's political leadership, security policies and human rights. Egyptian authorities blocked the website for domestic audiences in 2017.

According to Amnesty International, the outlet sought a license from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation in 2018 and 2020 but received no response. It was not until a separate investigation in 2022 that prosecutors informed the outlet that its application had been rejected. Mada Masr subsequently challenged the council's failure to notify it of the decision, but the case was dismissed in 2023, Amnesty International reported. The outlet submitted a new application in 2026 after the council said its earlier filing lacked certain documents, according to Amnesty.

Know more: Attalah's conviction comes amid increased pressure on independent journalists in Egypt. In September, Egyptian authorities arrested all six journalists working for the independent fact-checking platform Matsadaash. Authorities accused the journalists of spreading false news and having links to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, allegations the platform's co-founder has denied.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Egypt 169th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, placing it among the countries with the most restrictive media environments. The Committee to Protect Journalists has said Egypt remains one of the world's leading jailers of journalists, with at least 25 imprisoned as of late October.