As Australians are warned get out – insiders are isolated from link to the outside world.The pen is as mighty as the sword apparently as worried Egyptian officials cut off its citizens from the outside world.
The tide of anti-government protesters are seeking to oust the thirty year rule of President Hosni Mubarak who last week fired his entire cabinet in response to the crisis that has engulfed the Muslim state.
” 88% of the ‘Egyptian internet’ has fallen off the internet,” Andree Toonk from BGPmon, a company that analyses global links to the web.
Facebook confirmed on Thursday reports of service disruption and saw a drop in traffic from Egypt morning time, company spokeswoman Jillian Carroll said.
All the major ISPS have shut down last week including Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt and Etisalat Misr, says Toonk, and in a departure from the traditional online blockages “in this case the government seems to be taking a shotgun approach by ordering ISPs to stop routing all networks,” he told the Guardian newspaper.
Only one provider, the Noor Group was left unhindered although this was reported as fast disappearing last night unhindered and mobile phone networks have also been disconnected.
This latest switch off came hot on the heels of a partial internet block off of all social media networks last week including Facebook and Twitter, which were seen as critical tool in the protest held in Iran in 2009, nicknamed the “Twitter revolution.”
The social media forum was seen as a critical weapon in the uprising staged against the government helping protesters communicate with each other and the outside world.
“Freedom of expression by peaceful means is everyone’s right. The armed forces are aware of and recognise the legitimate demands of the honourable people,” said a state military spokesman.
Yesterday the Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed the government had chartered a Qantas 747 jet to help rescue its citizens stranded in Cairo.
