Badawi stated that based on the committee’s recommendations, the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) will only censor those TikTok videos and live content which offend modesty and public morals and violate Egyptian society's social and religious values.

He dismissed rumours that the government will ban the application starting next October.

"The TikTok application is widely used in Egypt and enjoys popularity among different segments of society, especially young people. Therefore, the government has no intentions to ban it next October," said Badawi.

A tax on TikTok's profits
 

Badawi revealed that the House's Communications Committee is currently drafting a law that imposes a tax on profits generated from the TikTok application.

"The TikTok application has become a new source of income for many people and so the committee in coordination with NTRA will also move to impose a tax on this income and preserve the state's rights in this respect," he said.

“I hope that the House will discuss the proposed law in its upcoming session which begins next October,” Badawi added.

The Chinese-owned video application TikTok has been sharply criticized by MPs and senators during the outgoing parliamentary session.

They said electronic video applications – particularly TikTok – should come under state control because much of their content goes against social and religious values.

Egypt's senate devoted a session last January to discussing "the harmful effects of the TikTok application on Egyptian society."

Senator Mohamed Emara said thousands of families in Egypt complain that the platform's content is "very open" and goes in violation of the country's religious and conservative values.

"Families ask that the application be banned or its content be censored to prevent the spread of liberal lifestyles which negatively affect society, particularly youth," said Emara.

In 2024, Egypt ranked eleventh among the largest countries in terms of TikTok users, with 37.6 million users, according to the We Are Social report. Indonesia topped the list with 157.6 million users, followed by the United States with 120.5 million users, and Brazil with 105.3 million users.

According to the latest survey by the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), released in 2022, TikTok ranks third among the most-used social media platforms, following Facebook and Instagram.

The IDSC's survey – whose sample comprised 1,002 Egyptians who are 18 or older – found that 95.9 percent of those surveyed used Facebook either frequently, intermittently, or rarely.

According to the survey, Instagram came second at 54.6 percent of the sample, followed by TikTok at 45.7 percent.