Egyptian Government Blocking Web Service

As protests in Egypt rage on, social media, a vital communications component in the recent Tunisian uprising, is being blocked by the government.

“On Thursday, protesters active on Twitter and Facebook, publicly documenting demonstrations on the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other cities, went quiet,” reports CNN.com. “Around the same time, many websites centralized on servers in Egypt disappeared.” A statement from Vodaphone also indicates that mobile phone operators have been instructed by those in charge to block service in certain areas.

Renesys, a U.S.-based intelligence firm also reports to the Wall Street Journal that “the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the Internet’s global routing table.”

Al Jazeera is providing a live stream in English with coverage here. And just moments ago, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a press conference focused on the protests, “The situation should be addressed through concrete reforms. That’s what the people of Egypt demand. That’s what they deserve.”

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