Egypt Blocks Twitter During Protest
Likely emboldened by the recent uprising in Tunisia, which took down longstanding dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, thousands of Egyptians are protesting today in Cairo against a general lack of freedoms, and more specifically, the horrific murder of Khaled Said (warning: graphic image) by police. As in Tunisia and Iran previously, the internet has been one of the protesters' greatest tools, with Twitter even getting blocked, seemingly by the government, to prevent organization. So while media blowhards Malcolm Gladwell and Clay Shirky continue to quibble over social media's role in revolution, it's playing out in the streets.
Via TechCrunch: "Asked to confirm that Twitter is blocked in Egypt, Google PR points to this Herdict Report, which indicates that it is in fact inaccessible in that country." The only way onto Twitter from inside is through web proxies.
Facebook, meanwhile, is alive with action, with the group "We are all Khaled Said" being updated throughout the day.
For more info about the ongoing fight in Egypt, Mother Jones has the best one-stop primer with links galore.
UPDATE: The Awl also has a first person account of the day's fight.
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