In a recorded message at the Egypt Forum 2026 on Monday, 19 October, in the presence of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef warned that online arguments are damaging relationships between Arab communities.
The message aligns with one of Egypt Forum’s core themes, which is countering misinformation and the spread of rumors. This is particularly relevant in light of Egypt’s recent launch of Chat EGYPT, an AI-powered platform designed to monitor and counter rumors.
This marks Youssef’s first televised appearance in front of El-Sisi since his satirical show was discontinued in 2014 amid tensions over its political content and Egypt’s media climate. Following the show’s cancellation, Youssef relocated to the United States, where he continued to build his career in comedy and entertainment.
Drawing on his own experiences, he explained how social media can turn ordinary disagreements into hostility, even between people who have never had a problem with one another.
“Social media was one of the reasons behind my success and fame, but it also caused me a lot of problems,” he explained.
He acknowledged that these platforms are useful to him and millions of people around the world. They allow people to communicate, share ideas, and reach audiences they might never otherwise encounter. Yet he has increasingly noticed another side to them, which is their ability to affect people’s daily lives and relationships in negative ways.
“Have you ever opened social media feeling perfectly fine, only to leave feeling irritated, angry or ready to argue with someone?” he asked.
He described how online discussions can make people increasingly frustrated until they find themselves fighting with people they had no reason to dislike in the first place. Suddenly, someone else’s opinion becomes a personal attack, or disagreement becomes a grudge.
In Youssef’s view, this is one of social media’s most troubling effects, as it can manufacture hostility between people who might otherwise get along perfectly well.
How a football match turns into a fight between countries
To illustrate his view, Youssef turned to a familiar passion across the Arab world: football. While a match is supposed to be a sporting contest, where fans support their teams, celebrate victories, and argue about refereeing decisions, the rivalry online can quickly become something else entirely.
For instance, Youssef pointed to arguments between Egyptians and Moroccans, where a football match can trigger insults and animosity between people from the two countries. Instead of keeping the disagreement on the pitch, some fans turn it into an attack on an entire nation.
He also referred to the tensions that can emerge around Syrians and Sudanese people living in Egypt. An incident involving members of a community can suddenly lead to people attacking one another online, as though everyone from that country should be held responsible.
“A disagreement involving some people should not become a reason to turn against an entire population,” he said.
Who is actually behind some of these online fights?
One of the most important parts of Youssef’s message was his warning about internet bot accounts that deliberately fuel these arguments.
“We’ve started to recognise these accounts,” he said, referring to profiles that are neither Moroccan, Egyptian nor Saudi, but nevertheless jump into disputes to stir things up and spread hatred.
Some accounts, he argued, enter these discussions to provoke reactions, widen disagreements, and make existing tensions worse, and the result is a cycle that feeds itself.
Youssef’s warning invites people to question what they see on their screens. A loud online argument does not necessarily reflect what ordinary people think, and an account posting under a national flag should not automatically be treated as the voice of an entire nation.
The more people react without questioning what they are seeing, the easier it becomes for a small dispute to grow into widespread hostility.
A 2025 study found that social media bots accounted for approximately 20 percent of online discussion surrounding seven global events, and that bots used abusive language more frequently than human users.
This suggests that automated accounts may contribute to online hostility by amplifying aggressive language and worsening tensions between individuals and opposing groups.
Are we using social media to escape life, and making life worse in the process?
Towards the end of his address, Youssef offered a final observation about the role these platforms play in everyday life. He acknowledged that people sometimes use social media to escape from their problems or distract themselves from what is happening around them.
Yet that escape can come at a cost if the time spent online leaves people more frustrated, more divided, and more hostile towards one another.
“I know that sometimes we escape from our lives and spend hours on social media,” he said. “But I hope social media doesn’t ruin our lives for us.”
