Struggles under the abdul fatah alsisi. Britain journalists, government surveillance and a new law. Taliban targets journalists, several killed dozens wounded and turning beans into caviar, illusions and dilutions five years after the fall o mubarak five years ago, the fallful mubarak werest was the story. Images were watched around the woirmed. Fastforward to 2016. And the message issued and broadcast by the news media is clear do not take to the streets. Last week five people who started facebook pages marking the anniversary of the revolution were arrested. Accused of supporting the banned muslim brotherhood. According to press free some groups, the number of journalists in egyptian james are at a high. As the ng oo. Rights watch puts it, we are seeing a pattern of agencies arresting people whose writings dont conform to official news. The bulk did a line with president abdul fatah alsisi against the muslim brotherhood. Now that that organise agency has been forced underground, theres signs that the medias abdul fatah alsisi mania is occurring. Cracks are showing. On matters of governance, corruption and economic policy. Still there are limit, and those that cross them risk more than their jobs. Our starting point this week five years after the revolution that represented the High Water Mark of the arab spring, is cairo anniversaries, the news media. Some governments have reason to fear them. January 25th approached, marking five years since the mubar abbing regime was mubarak regime was swamped. History was not to repeat itself. In print the headlines were equally ominous. Live bullets will be used against saboteurs on the 25th. This. The media, the progovernment media drums up the same sentiment. Anyone that calls for not even protest, but the recognition of the 25th as a date is recommend the as a sympathizer of the banned muslim brotherhood, described as a terrorist organization. There is all them fearmongering about how that day, if its going to be observed with any kind of protest, is going to be a cause for a lot of instability and a lot of danger. And the newspaper, which is egypts flag ship paper talking about the security measures that the interior ministry will take to protect egyptians. Jan 26th has been appropriated by the state to the extent that now it might be celebrated event as the first revolution to be followed by the june 30th revolution. I dont think theres a buildup of a narrative of what might happen. Rather it is nonfear instilling policy of the day. What some called a clampdown media is the continuation of the abdul fatah alsisis policies going back more than two years. The u. N. Based committee to protect journalists reports egypt was second to china in the number of journalists gaoled. In recent weeks, it intensified. Are targeted with a high profile case of a prominent journalist with the independent news sites. He was detained last year by military intelligence for an indepth article. About the military trial. He had allegedly mounted a coup. The rest had an egyptian investigative journalist he had been speaking and writing on egypts security policy, especially in the sinai, and is charges. We see that across the board. Arrests from the online publication. These have been across the board. Happening sporadically in waves. But the intention is to instill the near that lasted after 2013 journalists. There is a Concerted Campaign against freedom of expression in egypt. But that is not intimidating all journalists, and many voices that remained in egypt. And despite the risks they call out what they see at wrong. For the most part they are in print or online. Like most. Egypt is more tolerant of what is published in a newspaper than what is said in front of a camera and broadcast in front of a medium, television. Tv journalists still have red lines, criticism of the per cent himself or the measures taken bit the security apparatus. They have taken shots by the performance in other areas. Theyll have less to do with ideology and politics than oldfashioned concerns. Its post anxious about protecting the states. It is anxious about losing the viewers altogether. Its been on and off. Its much more diversified than what it seems from outside. The passion for abdul fatah alsisi waned when people realized that, you know, no real change has been instigated , corruption is like it was beforehand. Crackdowns were more vicious in order for the states. Maintaining a semblance of control. And this is reflected in the mainstream media. I dont believe there are any cracks. Even though you get the occasion criticisms in crete eke of the new law that was passed. Theres no real fibrure between them. Abdul fatah alsisi and others are aware of the powder of the media and aware of the fact that there needs to be a semblance of freedom. A little bit of space where people can criticize something. Its part of their programme. And the authorities are proving to be hyper sensitive to Online Platforms like facebook, which is a big part of the arab springs story, not just as a news distribution vehicle, but an organising tool. The spate of arrests commemorate the january 25th anniversary. Five years later. Social media and the segment of the population that uses it most are worth watching. 60 is under the age of 35, and are more engaged online than in participating politically. Social media may not be a game challenger or mobilize people into the street. And that, in a nutshell is the egyptian journalist dilemma, how to mark a date that was a game changer. Watch this space and egypts media. As they watch their words. Other media stories on the radar, 7 media workers in afghanistan have been killed and 25 wounded in a taliban suicide bombing in kabul. A car packed with explosives targetting a mini bus affiliated with the news, afghanistans first 24 hour panel. The taliban had happily threatened two stations calling them satanic networks, and military targets after reporting on aegzs of summary executions, rape and kidnapping. The c. E. O. Of the Parent Company said the freedom to sprint and the right to express ourselves is one that africans fought too long for the war in yemen is taking its toll on journalists, a leading freelance reporter was kill. And a reporter has gone missing. He was freelancing for voice of america when he perished in january. An al jazeera team was last seen january 18th. They are believed to have been kidnapped in a sudden city. Taiz. Al jazeeras director said its jason rezaian, the the washington posts tehran correspondent was freed after a prisoner exchange, following a year and a half in iranian gaol. The first footage. Jason rezaian came from a european hospital. His wife showing him a video securing the idea that he was a spy. Jason rezaian saw the humour. He was convicted at a closed door trial of espionage and crimes against security. A claim the newspaper denied. A prisoner report came between the republic and major powers. It was implemented lifting sanctions. Some major American News outlets, have acknowledged that they new about the swap. They went on for a year. Chose not to report on the story, protecting the safety of those involved. The viel is lifted on a mysterious story involving five missing publishers from hong kong, one appearing on state television in china, confessing to a crime, nothing to do with his work. This man living in thailand popped up on Chinese Television and the crime he admitted to was a drunken hit and run. He and four colleagues at a Hong Kong BasedPublishing House disappeared. They specialise in tabloid style books, critical of beijing, banned in china. Theres no record. It fed suspicions that the five from abducted by authorities. The day after. Authorities confirmed they have another publisher in custody. The British Government is in the midst of rewriting the laws an surveillance and security through investigatory powers bill. And journalists have a big stake in this story. Over the past decade and a half. Since the 9 11 attacks, the u. K. Parliament invoked more than 65 different laws and measures to terrorism. However, the ramifications for reporters included stop and search while on the job. Mining of digital data, monitoring of communications and evidence that some reporters ended up on Police Databases used to track extremists. This is coming to a head as Parliament Debates the ipp, referred to as the snoopers charter, its designed to pull together laws governing how the Government Police and Intelligent Services can spy on residents including those in the media. Now the relation shch between the Security State and the journalists that dare to challenge it. Aiften is a bridge freelance journalist who has been covering protests and documenting dissent. He has stories of journalists being intimidated. Harassed. Insulted and put under civilians by special teams employed to gather intelligence. It started to become give to get to a job, where there would be police, intelligence. This section gives me the power to keep you here. A lot of time it was stopping. Sometimes it was stop and search. There was 2123 stops. I have a choice, you go away now or spend the rest of the afternoon in the cell. I understand its taken 10 years of suspicion to find out there was something going on. Information held and retained and the officers and the units know who we are, who we are doing. Parkinsons said a couple of years ago a letter from the metropolitan police landed on his doorstep. A response to something he filed, called a subject access request. Proof that he was under surveillance because of the work he does, and information on him is held on a gm of domestic extremist databases. It is one of the most outrageous interferences with general civil liberties, when you consider that journalists need to be at those places in order to do their job, and the fact that that shaw cast a veil of suspicion is under mining the value that we prize. He and his colleagues are challenging the police rite to collect data. Asking the court to erase files obtained. Few of these incidents make news. One that is it relates to the leaks of a former contractor. David miranda was deatheathrow airport and held for fine hours by Security Forces who seized his security material. Mirandas detention was ruled illegal. Miranda and his supporters claimed victory. It was an excludes to search him, take what he had with him. We had some newspaper normally a proponent, found itself a target of disproportionate intrusive galeance in order to combat the police. Its nothing to do with security, its an amuse of protections under the conventions of human rights. It should be unlawful and punished. David oman is the former director of g. C. H. Q. , the communication headquarters of u. K. Intelligence setup. G. C. H. Q. Is entitled if they had purpose. Here is one prepared to go on the record. You have to get the mechanics right. The public has to have confidence that it will be used responsibly. You have to have oversight. You have to be certain when powers are used. They are used responsibly. Which brings us to investigatory powers bills currently debated in Committee Rooms behind me. In putting together the draft, the government asked an independent reviewers to scrutinize more than 65 different pieces of terrorism legislation. In an attempt to bring together all measures. What has been said to the public and parliament in britain is trust the judges, trust the system, and many want to. What we have seen from the record it they cannot be trusted. I find them petrifying. Expanding the powers drastically. And the journalists are not given protections under the new laws. While the intention may be to make the law clearer. Expansion, and no expansion of protection. The prospect of unfettered access to everything by human agents. Malware, systematic civilians and networking of everyone you are in touch with is terrifying. One uses the analogy from the point of view of the gestapo. Its a dream come true. The journalistic shorthand is the charter. Thats not just the media critic. Those on the side are pushing ahead. I gave evidence to the different committees to the house of commons. I couldnt find any gaps. No doubt the journalist will want tighter conditions under wit the material could be accessed. The authorities will push back against that. The most important thing is the code of practice. That explains in plain english what the authorities are allowed to do and what they are not. I think it will be much clearer for anyone that is it worried about whether the state is going too far. They may argue about it. They will be arguing from about. The British Government hopes to have the ipp passed by the end of the year. Advocates are heralding transparency. The idea that journalists will know when and why. Critics are concerned about something more fundamental. Journalist are feeling the effect. The impacts are long term and will come to realise the implication of building the society. Looking back in 1015 years time and understanding why we didnt have as many investigative journalists, why we didnt have as many exposes, whistleblowers or sources coming forward, they are the tangible impacts long term. Finally revolutions and music tend to go hand in hand. Five years ago when egyptians were ousting president mubarak. One of the voices was ranee. His cry was freedom and social justice. He and his country moved on. He relocated to sweden and egypt has a former military man inside. Last year he released beans are caviar, the message being that egyptians in their enthusiasm for the Egyptian Government are smoking a food staple for something of gourmet value. See you next time at the listening post. [ ] im off the coast of hawaii. We are on the Tipping Point of an ecological disaster. This coral is not dead. Techknows team of experts show you how the miracles of science. This is what innovation looks like. Can affect and surprise us. I feel like were making an impact. Lets do it. Techknow where Technology Meets humanity. Al Jazeera America gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. More on every screen. Digital, mobile, social. Visit aljazeera. Com. Follow ajam on twitter. And like alJazeera America on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. So you dont just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. Al Jazeera America. Siyrian for as they take the last rebelheld town of Latakia Province ahead of proposed peace talks welcome. Im jane dutton live from the headquarters in doha. Also coming up. Reporter protesters in egypt defy the government, ignoring an official ban on demonstrations to mark the fifth anniversary of the revolution. A cold snap s