Egypt’s parliament is moving to amend the country’s cybercrime law in a way that would explicitly outlaw online betting apps and introduce serious penalties, including life imprisonment for the worst offenders. Online gambling has long been banned in Egypt, but existing laws have mainly targeted licensed, physical gambling venues rather than internet-based services.
Despite the prohibition, many Egyptians reportedly use VPNs to access overseas gambling websites and use foreign cards to pay. Last month, the chair of the House Communications and Information Technology Committee said the government is drafting amendments to the Cybercrime Law to ban online gambling apps. Ahmed Badawi said the proposed sanctions could allow offenders to be jailed for life when criminal networks—or people involved in large-scale fraud—are operating such apps.
Badawi also said that, in cooperation with his committee, investigations by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and the Supreme Council for Media Regulation resulted in the blocking of about 80% of online betting apps. He added that the government’s focus is on stopping “undesirable” apps and closing regulatory gaps that enable them to spread, rather than simply restricting technology.
Authorities have already taken action against some operators. For example, 1xBet’s operations were suspended last September, and the app was later removed from both the App Store and Google Play following complaints from parliamentarians. Badawi confirmed that similar steps are being taken against MelBet, another app linked to a foreign-licensed bookmaker.
Separately, a legislative initiative launched earlier this year also aims to make electronic betting illegal. If adopted, it would create three penalty tiers. The proposal includes a maximum prison sentence of five years and fines of £1–5 million (about $20,000–$100,000) for agents and coordinators; fines of £50,000–200,000 (about $1,000–$4,000) for payment facilitators; and fines of EGP5 million–10 million (about $100,000–$200,000) for people running, sponsoring, or supporting the betting apps.
MP Martha Mahrous, deputy chair of the Communications and Information Technology Committee, said the issue is comparable to addiction and that young people should be treated as addicted by scientific standards. The proposed final laws have not yet been discussed in parliament. It had been suggested that amendments might be submitted after Eid al-Adha, but no submission has yet taken place.
