Egypt prosecutor orders ban on online pornography

CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's top prosecutor has ordered several government ministries to enforce a ban on pornographic websites, three years after a court denounced the sites in strong terms.

An official in the prosecutor's office said Wednesday the order followed a protest by ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis, who have launched a campaign called "Pure Net" to prohibit the pornographic websites. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

In 2009, an administrative court in Cairo ruled in favor of a suit filed by an Islamist lawyer who argued the sites were destructive to Egyptian social values, calling them "venomous and vile."

Digital rights researcher Ramy Raoof says similar decisions in the past were not enforced because of costs associated with the technical applications.