Twitter Blocked in Egypt as Protesters Revolt

As protesters become increasingly violent and numbered, the Egyptian government has taken measures to silence their methods of rapidly communicating and rallying by blocking Twitter, cellular phone access and other communication mediums.

The current protest, which is tearing through the streets of Cairo, comes from anti-government sentiment that seems to be fueled by neighboring Tunisia’s successful overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in power for over 23 years.

The protest had been organized mostly via Facebook, as over 90,000 people had joined the group and were actively ready to take to the streets. Though the number of people actually on the streets is significantly smaller than that number, there’s no doubt that the majority of them were those who had joined the original Facebook group.

The Guardian’s Jack Shenker, who is on the ground in Cairo, had the following to say about the situation:

As midnight approaches in Cairo thousands of protesters are still occupying the Tahrir Square, vowing to remain in place until the government falls. [...]As fresh waves of protesters broke through police cordons to join the throng in Tahrir, a festival atmosphere took hold – groups were cheered as they arrived carrying blankets and food, and demonstrators pooled money together to buy water and other supplies.

For more minute-by-minute updates and the latest news on the protests, check out The Guardian.