'We are not the problem,' editor of news outlet that Egyptian court ordered to close tells AP

Facing a potential prison sentence and the court-ordered closure of the news site she co-founded, the editor-in-chief of one of Egypt’s last independent media outlets said silencing journalists is not the answer and will only allow disinformation to flourish.

“We are not the problem. I think our disappearance is a problem,” Lina Attalah told The Associated Press in an interview Monday, as the 13-year-old site Mada Masr fights the decision to shut it down.

Its closure would mean "butchering what’s left of a space that’s keeping this country sane and healthy, and a societal need for information that cannot just be ignored.”

Mada Masr has been a unique voice in Egypt, investigating allegations of corruption and human rights violations, providing deep coverage on economics and politics, and hosting cultural discussions. Meanwhile, authorities have clamped down on other newspapers and television.

Late last month, a court ordered Mada Masr to close after convicting Attalah, 44, of running a website without a license. At trial, she learned that another court had, without her knowledge, convicted her of spreading false news and sentenced her to a year in prison and a large fine.

On Wednesday, she will be retried for that sentence, which was issued in absentia even though she was in Egypt. Mada Masr is also appealing the closure order, in a hearing scheduled for Nov. 25.

Attalah said she didn’t know why authorities were seeking to close Mada now but suggested they might be trying to silence independent media at a time of economic strain and regional instability.

“There seems to be a political directive going into the direction of: There can’t be media speaking out in this moment, because it’s a tough moment somehow. What is this moment exactly?” Attalah said. “I cannot tell.

“But there seems to be a lot of challenges and a desire for the media not to reflect on it.”

The Iran war has driven up energy costs and forced Egypt’s government to raise fuel prices as it grapples with mounting debt obligations . That has strained an economy long struggling with inflation, unemployment and widespread poverty.

The Egyptian Embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case. Egypt’s top judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council, said in an Oct. 31 statement that the trials were conducted within “constitutional guarantees” and “correct and established legal principles” and that it rejects “any attempts to cast doubt on the integrity of the Egyptian justice system.”

Attalah helped launch Mada Masr in 2013, a year that saw the military’s ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood after a wave of protests against him, and the rise to power of current President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Since then, Mada Masr's investigations have often touched on sensitive issues – reports on a media empire created by intelligence agencies, business monopolies in Egypt, and a private firm that collected millions of dollars to arrange the exit of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip during the war there.

It also has reported on Egypt’s economy and regional issues including the war in Gaza, turmoil in Libya, and conflict in Sudan and the Horn of Africa. Attalah also pointed to the paper’s reporting on social and cultural issues.

Mada, she said, “does not just give people information, but allows them a space to think.”

Most other media outlets in Egypt strictly report the government line. Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 analysis. At least 26 journalists who were arrested in recent years are currently in detention, according to the group.

Attalah said Mada’s coverage “has a stabilizing effect” that can benefit the government, with its factual reporting and professional standards creating an informed public.

“The problem is when your only political tool is security, you’re not going to see us as other than an enemy, and this is very sad,” she said.

In late September, the entire editorial staff of the fact-checking platform Matsadaash was detained on charges of joining and financing the Muslim Brotherhood, a group labeled a terrorist group by the government, and spreading false information — accusations frequently used against Egyptian journalists and government critics in recent years.

“We didn’t know that we would be next, but it felt like it’s an operation to sort of end a lot of media operations that were doing important work,” Attalah said.

Mada Masr — which has stopped publishing since the court order — says it first applied for a license in 2018 but never received an answer. Authorities have blocked its website inside Egypt since 2017, and the outlet says this is the sixth case brought against it or its journalists in six years.

“We are not against licensing as a regulatory measure,” she said. “We’re against licensing when it becomes a tool of control.”

Mada Masr has repeatedly faced closure threats, but this time was different, Attalah said.

She said the case against her outlet was referred to court last month “very swiftly” and issued with the maximum verdict.

Human Rights Watch has called the prosecution of Attalah an escalation of an “outrageous attack on independent media.”

Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said assaults on press freedom are widening in Egypt.

"These alarming developments must end immediately, and journalists must be able to carry out their essential work free from intimidation and reprisals,” he said Tuesday.

Attalah remains hopeful that Mada Masr’s suspension could offer an opportunity to highlight the importance of its work and encourage others to defend independent journalism.

“The space is shrinking for sure, but the intention, the people, the talent is there,” she said. “So I won’t be surprised if there will be a coming together of other groups and other people trying to do the work.”

The Mada staff feels “a little bit bruised” from the week’s events, she said, but a wave of support from readers has also shown them “why this work matters.

“If you want to see something bright in this darkness, it would be that.”