Facebook and Twitter Shut Down in Egypt As Riots Go On

Twitter and Facebook (globalvoicesonline.org)

New protests broke out in Cairo on Wednesday evening as thousand of demonstrators spread throughout the center of the city after being dispersed by the security forces, and many gathered on Gelaa Street where a violent clash burst in the morning between police and the protesters who wanted to sleep in the square in defiance of government.

The people are protesting against the poor living conditions and the autocratic regime installed in the country by Hosni Mubarak, and were asking for the deposition of the president.

Police fired teargas and threw pieces of concrete at the demonstrators, while people lit a tire and threw rocks at the police.

In a first sign of concession to the people in the streets, the interior minister pledged that the country’s leadership would allow freedom of expression “by legitimate means.”

Protests in Egypt (newshopper.sulekha.com)

Probably this promise does not include “illegitimate” means such as Twitter and Facebook, which are now reported shut down in Egypt.

Sources within the ministry announced that some 500 people were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and that the authorities would not tolerate any more such demonstrations.

Thousand of armoured police were placed on Wednesday in key locations in the capital city in anticipation of further violent demonstrations.

According to police, 18 officers and 85 other members of the force were injured, while 250 protesters were wounded

Protest in Egypt (guardian.co.uk)

and some 200 were arrested.

It is thought that the number of the demonstrators across the country may already have reached hundreds of thousands.

The authorities have blamed for this the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition group in Egypt. The brotherhood denied any participation in the demonstration on January 25.

The demonstrations occur eight months before the presidential elections which could see the incumbent president run for a new term or try to pass succession to his son.

That is why people asked the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, close ally to Americans who had turned a blind eye to his infringement of human rights for decades for the sake of preserving peace in the region and having a close friend in a very unfriendly region.

Those who protested in Egypt said they were influenced by the Tunisian revolution, which seems to be by now referential to all people in the Arab states who live under the same dire life conditions.