Millions in the dark as communications are completely cut off in Egypt by the government, including the Internet and SMS.A complete information blackout.
What would you do if the Canadian government without notice blocked all access to Google, Twitter, Facebook, SMS... or even the whole internet?
In an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. Reports are coming in that Egypt is now under an Internet and SMS blackout, just hours before a new series of major protests are planned against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
The Egyptian government's actions tonight have essentially wiped their country from the global map. What happens when you disconnect a modern economy and 80,000,000 people from the Internet? What will happen tomorrow, on the streets and in the credit markets? This has never happened before, and the unknowns are piling up.
Sebone, a major Egyptian service provider based in Italy, is reporting that no Internet traffic is entering or exiting the country as of 12:30 AM Egyptian time. Reporters and citizens on-the-ground are also reporting that they are experiencing Internet and SMS outages.
Egypt has been enveloped in unrest over the presidency of Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981. The protests have been partly inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia that forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out of power after 23 years. Facebook, Twitter and social media were key communication tools used by protesters to organize rallies.
Just like Tunisia, Egyptian protesters have been utilizing social media to organize their own protests, using hashtags such as #Jan25 to communicate. In response to the protests, Egyptian authorities blocked Twitter and Facebook. Egyptian police have been cracking down on protesters using water cannons and tear gas.
I know this is belittling the whole issue and going needlessly off-topic, but I bet that guy wishes he could put that as his profile picture on fb, if he had internet..
...thats a pretty sweet shot!
i don't know anything about egypt, but my understanding is that the regime over there is pretty similar to Iran, and this isn't all that surprising... ugh, middle-eastern countries..
^ Egypt's regime isn't really similar to Iran at all, besides the dictatorship bit (and all it comes with - the power of the police in state, etc.). It's a different sort of dictatorship, and religion plays an entirely different role. Now, for the purposes of this protest, there may be a bit of similarity - that is, since many of these protests have been motivated by poverty in the lower classes and a breakdown of the usual apathy of the middle / upper classes. A similar motivation caused the protests in Iran a while back, although there was a rather more pronounced religious aspect to it.
tl;dr: no, it's not really like Iran much, despite superficial similarities.
This was a stupid move on the government's behalf. It shows their fear and that's why the protests will intensify not decrease like they want them to.
Also, Egypt is a completely different story than Iran. Having been there every summer of my life, this is triggered by poverty, unemployment and the need for change. Iran's issues are different.
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Mary Keyes CA 2013-2014
Hons. Biology and Pharmacology V
This was a stupid move on the government's behalf. It shows their fear and that's why the protests will intensify not decrease like they want them to.
Also, Egypt is a completely different story than Iran. Having been there every summer of my life, this is triggered by poverty, unemployment and the need for change. Iran's issues are different.
I totally agree
most people in Egypt are suffering from inflation
everything is expensive and the salary of people are very low
its to an extent people are trying to steal bread!
Also, Egypt is a completely different story than Iran. Having been there every summer of my life, this is triggered by poverty, unemployment and the need for change. Iran's issues are different.
Indeed. However, there is an undercurrent of commonality in the causes for unrest around the region (and really, around the "developing" countries generally) - while the people got used to poverty and relatively high unemployment, it's the sudden spike in inflation for basic goods that's served as a spark...
So, while the cultural reasons for protest may be different, there is a common economic ground, I think, to this global unrest. Of course, there's other factors - perhaps most importantly the specifics of governance and government - that determine the degree and intent of protests. I think that North Africa (and perhaps the rest of the Middle East, in due time) is seeing so much of this is because of the compounding of the cultural, economic, and political factors...
This was a stupid move on the government's behalf. It shows their fear and that's why the protests will intensify not decrease like they want them to.
Also, Egypt is a completely different story than Iran. Having been there every summer of my life, this is triggered by poverty, unemployment and the need for change. Iran's issues are different.
What is their government/military usually like though?
(egypt)
/ is ignorant
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