REGULATION WATCH- Supreme Media Council announces temporary licensing regs for news websites that set permit fees at EGP 50k every five years: News websites whose capital exceeds EGP 100k will have to pay a EGP 50,000 licensing fee every five years, according to new regulations the Supreme Media Council announced yesterday. Applicants for news website permits will need to submit a request to the council that identifies the website’s sources of funding, its editorial policy, language of publication, organizational structure, as well as its virtual and physical addresses, council undersecretary Abdel Fattah El Gebaly said yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. Non-registered websites have two weeks to comply with the new regs as of yesterday, while registered sites will have six months to fall in line.

Background: The new guidelines will be in effect only until the executive regulations to second part of the Press and Media Act — which President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ratified in September — are passed, El Gebaly said. The law had established the regulations and guidelines for working in the press and media and introduced provisions that make it mandatory for news websites to apply for permits and abide by laws that govern other press institutions. Supreme Media Council head Makram Mohamed Ahmed phoned into Hona Al Asema last night to discuss the new regs (watch, runtime: 8:05).