Syria follows Egypt in blocking the Internet, report

On the same day that Egypt has allegedly blocked the Internet, Syria may have made a similar move to silence dissenting voices.

According to Arabic-language website Al Arabiya, the country has suspended all of its Internet services.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Syria had imposed bans on two programs that allow access to Facebook, which had previously been banned in 2007.

The country has a history of restricting media coverage of poverty and corruption, but it’s not clear that it has gone as far as disrupting Internet service altogether. Shorty after Al Arabiya reported that the Internet was down in Syria, a government representative denied the claim. Many who said they were tweeting from Syria also commented that they weren’t having any problems accessing the Internet.

Reports from Egypt, on the other hand, confirm that the government blocked Twitter and then Internet access altogether in response to escalating protests against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

Hillary Clinton addressed the rise of Internet censorship in a speech last week, calling it the “new information curtain.” But Egypt and — if the report is true, Syria — are the first countries to push censorship to the point of completely shutting down the Internet.

Syria denies reports

A Syrian official source denied the information broadcast by Al Arabiya that Syria has cut off internet connections.

The source affirmed that the internet service is available across Syria

As the world watches images of Egypt erupting, similar images are being reproduced in Syria. We have witnessed today many demonstrations in Damascus, Aleppo, and Qamoshli. With 10,000 IRGC (the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) personnel residing permanently in Syria, we also witnessed them, mixed with Syrian Army Battalions, deploy in several cities around the country. Yet, the international media, and al-Jazeera especially, have gone dark on Syria.

Farid Ghadry who co-founded the Reform Party of Syria (RPS) an organization dedicated to freedom and human rights in his native country said

“As the world watches images of Egypt erupting, similar images are being reproduced in Syria. We have witnessed today many demonstrations in Damascus, Aleppo, and Qamoshli. With 10,000 IRGC (the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) personnel residing permanently in Syria, we also witnessed them, mixed with Syrian Army Battalions, deploy in several cities around the country. Yet, the international media, and al-Jazeera especially, have gone dark on Syria.”

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