A court in Egypt today banned pornographic websites, observing that such sites spread vice among several segments of the society.

The administrative court here issued the ruling on a petition filed by lawyer, Nizar Ghurab, who demanded court direction to the Ministry of Communications and the National Telecom Regulatory Authority to block such websites.

The court said there are porn websites that are spreading vice among several segments of Egyptian society. All necessary measures must be taken to block such websites as they breach freedom of expression and threaten national security and the interest of the State.

In his plaintiff, Ghurab mentioned a recent case of a married couple who were sentenced to prison for setting up a swingers club through the internet as an example of danger the websites create.

The wife-swapping case shocked conservative Egyptian society especially that the husband was in his late forties and the wife was veiled, a sign of chastity, the court heard.

The Egyptian government has been keen on clamping down on political opposition sites and bloggers but sites loaded with explicit material remain untouched.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Communications had not yet commented on the verdict but has the right to appeal it. Egypt has over 12 million Internet users, according to 2007 government figures.