Egyptian director Khaled Youssef announced his withdrawal from social media platforms, especially Facebook, after facing attacks and death threats, leaving his fans in shock.

In a video message addressed to his fans, Youssef revealed his sudden decision, saying: "Facebook’s management decided to delete my last post from two days ago about Al-Joulani. This is not the first time; everything I posted about the resistance, the rights of the Palestinian people, or any Arab country opposing the Zionist entity was removed. They sent me a message saying that if I don’t comply with Facebook’s standards, my account will be closed."

He added, "This might be the last thing I post or the last time you see me on Facebook, because I won’t post anything else there and I refuse to comply with their criminal standards. I have faced a fierce campaign from supporters of the new regime in Syria, and it escalated to death threats. No one has responded to the massacres being committed against the Syrian people."

Conflicts with Censorship

Khaled Youssef also spoke about his struggles with censorship throughout his artistic career, stating that 90% of his films were released only after disputes with the censors. He emphasized that censorship’s rejection of artistic works negatively affects Egypt’s soft power and its standing in the Arab world.