Introduction

In the decades prior to the 2011 Arab uprisings,scholars of the Middle East and North Africaproduced a plethora of literature on the persistenceof authoritarianism in the region (Bellin 2004;Makiya 1998). From clientelism and elite cohesion topersonalised regimes and hereditary succession,research topics reflected a state-centred approachto explaining domestic political dynamics whilemarginalising non-state actors that were deemedperipheral to the circles of the politicallyrelevant elite. Those exploring the role of civilsociety wrote about the weakness of politicalparties and their co-optation or the limits ofnon-governmental organisations, associations andunions (Heydemann 2007; Schlumberger 2007). Becausespecialists focused on formal institutions, theymissed the new wave of informal networks andmobilisation movements that were emerging in theyears leading up to 2011. Thus, when citizens tookto the Egyptian streets in 2011, most academics weresurprised (Gause 2011).

By 2014, however, when Abdel Fattah al-Sisi formallyassumed presidential powers in Egypt, thepossibility of a democratic transition in thecountry was a distant reality. Academics who hadwritten about ‘people power’ only a couple of yearspreviously shifted their focus to the strength ofEgypt's deep state, the economic and political powerof the military and the re-emerging prominence ofthe security services.

Alongside the re-emergence of authoritarianism came itsfamiliar corollary: repression. This chaptercontributes to the literature on Egypt's ‘newauthoritarianism’ by posing the question: are therepressive tactics employed by Sisi to support hisautocratic government really new or are they simplya continuation and enhancement of an authoritarianstyle that reaches back through a series ofpresidencies? Focusing on media censorship,cyber-surveillance and legislation, I contend thatthese particular tools used by Sisi are intensifiedversions of those employed by previous Egyptianpresidents, even if enhanced by procurement of newsurveillance technologies and techniques from othercountries and foreign private companies.

Repression: Theory and History

On 25 January 2011, Egyptians took to the streets toprotest against police brutality, corruption and thepoor state of the economy. After eighteen days and aturn-out unprecedented in modern Egyptian history,Mubarak stepped down from power, leaving themilitary's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces(SCAF) to lead the year and five months of thepolitical transition to presidential elections.