Why Is Egypt's Govt Trying to Cancel a Popular Drama Show?

Published April 20th, 2021 - 07:25 GMT
Al-Tawoos poster
The show is inspired by the famous 2014 Cairo hotel gang rape case. (Twitter)

Even though Egypt’s media regulatory council has justified its decision to investigate and possibly cancel a Ramadan TV show over "the use of disallowed language code," social media has erupted in support of the show suggesting that other reasons lie behind the investigation.

The show 'Al-Tawoos'; Arabic for Peacock of which seven episodes have been aired so far highlights the story of a young Egyptian woman who was drugged by a number of young men hailing from wealthy and powerful families in the country before they gang-raped her in a famous hotel.

The events narrated by the show quickly reminded Egyptians of a controversial case that made headlines several times during 2020, the one in which a young woman spoke out about being gang-raped by nine young men in the Fairmont Hotel in Cairo back in 2014.

Ever since, the case that became publicly known as the 2014 Cairo hotel gang rape case has stirred so many discussions amongst Egyptians, especially after families of the nine involved men tried to help them escape the country in the summer of 2020, before Interpol was able to bring them back to Egypt for trials.

Now, official statements made by Egypt’s media regulatory council targeting the show and threatening its broadcast on TV have triggered questions over whether or not the wealthy powerful families of the men involved in the attack are pressuring officials to cancel the show. 

Using the hashtag #ادعم_مسلسل_الطاووس (Support the Al-Tawoos show), social media users have gone online protesting the possibility of canceling the show and urging officials to allow its airing for it can be a great opportunity for social awareness, touching on such a sensitive yet significant topic.

Some users even addressed the famous Netflix platform, hoping they can air the show in case it gets canceled soon.

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