Al Manassa, rights groups set accountability deadline for AppLogic

Al Manassa, alongside human rights organizations and independent news platforms, is demanding a transparent and verifiable account of AppLogic Networks’ human rights record in Egypt. The group is calling on the Canadian company to provide concrete proof that its pronounced institutional reforms are real—not cosmetic—particularly after its removal from the US government’s restricted trade list.

In a letter addressed to CEO Mark Driedger and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Carol Tate, the signatories pressed the company to explain how it intends to remedy violations linked to its equipment in Egypt, including documented human rights abuses. They also called on AppLogic to compensate those harmed.

The letter, published Thursday evening by Access Now—a global organization that defends the digital rights of at-risk users—expressed deep concern that AppLogic Networks, formerly known as Sandvine, has yet to demonstrate full transparency regarding its withdrawal from Egypt.

It further criticized the company for failing to provide tangible compensation to individuals affected by its previous unlawful activities in the country, “its continued refusal to meaningfully engage with Egyptian civil society, independent media, and affected stakeholders,” according to the statement.

In February 2024, the United States placed Sandvine, as the company was then known, on its restricted entities list. Cited reasons included the company's provision of technology to the Egyptian government for mass surveillance, censorship, and the blocking of websites.

Sandvine later announced a series of corrective measures, which it said were completed in March 2025. It subsequently began operating under its new name, AppLogic Networks, in what it described as an effort to rehabilitate its reputation.

In October 2024, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security removed the company from the restricted list. According to the bureau, the decision followed an overhaul of Sandvine’s corporate governance and business practices, with human rights protections taken into account. At the time, the company also pledged to allocate 1% of its profits to support digital rights protection.

Yet the damage caused by Sandvine’s technology in Egypt has been neither abstract nor marginal. Technical research conducted by independent civil society organizations, including Egyptian groups, documented years of systematic web censorship. According to a 2023 letter signed by 11 human rights organizations and independent media platforms, the surveillance disproportionately targeted more than 100 independent news websites and outlets critical of Egyptian authorities.

How Al Manassa uncovered Sandvine’s involvement

Al Manassa was not an observer of this campaign—it was one of its targets.

In a 2020 technical investigation conducted in collaboration with the Swedish digital rights organization Qurium, Al Manassa demonstrated that Telecom Egypt and Orange were blocking users’ access to its website using Sandvine equipment.

“We will continue to pursue the company—and any company proven to be involved in the paralegal blocking carried out by Egyptian authorities to suppress independent journalism and obstruct access to information,” said Al Manassa Editor-in-Chief Nora Younis.

The letter also noted that “on Feb. 20, 2025, authorities blocked the Brussels-based independent outlet Zawia3. In an attempt to circumvent the blocking, Zawia3 created an alternative domain, but that domain was also blocked.”

Zawia3 has since joined numerous other media platforms blocked in Egypt, including Al Manassa. According to the letter, the total number of blocked websites has reached at least 630.

The signatories stressed the need for AppLogic Networks to clarify “whether Egyptian authorities are still using its technology, particularly given that blocking remains ongoing.”

Al Manassa’s website has been blocked multiple times, most recently after the launch of a new version in July 2023. That marked the 13th time the site had been blocked. The restrictions have remained in place since, and the outlet’s primary domain, almanassa.com, is still inaccessible inside Egypt.

The signatories further pointed out that even after the company announced it would exit Egypt and other countries by Dec. 31, 2025, “Egypt continued to block independent news websites.”

Although AppLogic’s declared reforms included strengthening ties with civil society and allocating a portion of its profits to protect digital rights, the letter said those commitments have yet to translate into sustained and meaningful dialogue “with affected rights holders, civil society groups, journalists and independent media in Egypt.”

It added that “repeated efforts by Access Now to facilitate engagement between AppLogic Networks and Egyptian civil society and media organizations were delayed for several months.” The company ultimately canceled the meetings at the last minute “under a vague pretext related to staff safety concerns, without proposing any meaningful alternative arrangements.”

According to the signatories, this pattern of delay, cancellation and selective engagement with some stakeholders but not others “directly contradicts the company’s stated commitment to consult affected stakeholders, particularly in Egypt, where the harms have been well documented.”

Ultimatum

Alongside Al Manassa and Access Now, the letter was signed by Masaar, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Zawia3 and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.

Citing the continued absence of meaningful communication with Egyptian civil society and independent media, the signatories have given AppLogic Networks until Thursday, Feb. 26, to disclose documentation and concrete evidence confirming its full exit from Egypt.

They also called on the company to provide a detailed report on any remaining equipment or contractual obligations in Egypt bearing the AppLogic brand or otherwise linked to the company, and to clarify how such equipment has been fully deactivated.

The group further demanded transparency regarding how the company is addressing violations linked to its equipment, including details of its pledge to donate 1% of its profits. They stressed the need to confirm that those funds have been directed to affected civil society organizations, press freedom groups and human rights defenders, and to outline any additional remedial steps the company intends to take.

Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, AppLogic must not only acknowledge the harms it caused but also take remedial steps shaped by the communities affected.

In November 2024, 16 international and Egyptian human rights and legal organizations had already underscored this principle, calling on the Canadian company to compensate those harmed by its policies.

At the time, they emphasized the right to remedy and corporate responsibility to provide redress, stating that “Sandvine’s attempt to turn a new page on human rights without adequately addressing its past violations undermines the credibility of its commitment to human rights.”