Twitter
Several updates from Twitter’s official public relations account @TwitterGlobalPR on Tuesday night corroborate earlier reports that the service is being blocked from use inside Egypt.
“We can confirm that Twitter was blocked in Egypt around 8am PT today. It is impacting both Twitter.com & applications.
“Re Egypt block: We believe that the open exchange of info & views benefits societies & helps govts better connect w/ their people.”
Neal Ungerleider wrote Tuesday at Fast Company that protests in Egypt have erupted in the wake of the recent revolution in Tunisia.
Ungerleider reports that social media outlets such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are being used to organize the protests.
This has led to government attempts to slow communications by shutting down cell phone towers. Prior to Twitter being blocked, it was an outlet for sharing information:
“While access to Twitter via mobile phones is painfully slow in Egypt, users with access to computers have been posting stunning videos and photographs via Twitpic, Facebook and YouTube that are then being widely retweeted, reposted and reblogged by sympathizers around the world.”
For those outside the country, Ungerleider recommends two social media sources to watch:
“Readers interested in keeping up with the events are urged to follow Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy’s Twitter feed and the wall of the Egyptian opposition el-Shaheed’s Facebook account, which is posting minute-by-minute updates from hundreds of Egyptian Facebook users, including photos and news of the latest events.”
