Egyptians use social media to mock government’s youth event

Egyptians are using the social media hashtag of an international youth conference organized by the government to slam its poor human rights record and crackdown on free speech.

Billed as the “World Youth Forum” under the patronage of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the event is scheduled for November 4-10 in the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh. On its web site, organizers had encouraged people to use the hashtag #WeNeedToTalk for posts from early October onward. But as with previous government attempts to harness social media, the move seems to have backfired.

Twitter is now alight with criticism and the hashtag reached Egypt’s top trending topic, with users posting images of Egyptian police beating and chasing down youths during el-Sissi’s rule alongside portraits of young jailed activists. One mentioned a student jailed for three years for posting a doctored image of el-Sissi wearing Mickey Mouse ears.

— AP