Egypt: The Revolution Will Not Be Socialized; People: Yes It Will

In the wake of the Tunisian overthrow of their dictatorial regime, tens of thousands of Egyptians have started protesting in a number of cities across the country. One response the government has taken is to block Twitter.

“Thousands of Egyptians filled the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other cities today, in protest of their government’s economic policies, and rampant political corruption. And, much like the Tunisian demonstrators who inspired them, Egypt’s protesters have taken full advantage of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to spread information and organize their actions. Now, however, it appears that Twitter has been blocked within the country, though some resourceful demonstrators are still finding a way to broadcast their 140-character missives to the rest of the Web,” Switched reported.

However, as Time Magazine noted, “on Facebook, more than 85,000 people have pledged to attend a nationwide antigovernment protest planned.”

Instructions on how to use proxies to get around the ban were quickly passed around apparently. Overnight Twitter has been active. Interest from outside the country is high, while in Egypt the protests have started.

A Facebook Group called “We Are All Khaled Said” is doing constant updates of events as they happen. The group has more than 16,000 followers so far.

“Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s son who is considered as his successor has fled to Britain along with his family”, US-based Arabic website Akhbar al-Arab reported.

“The report came as violent unrest broke out in Cairo and other Egyptian cities and hundreds of thousands of people reportedly took to the streets in a Tunisia-inspired day of revolt.

The protesters want Egyptian government to end its 30-year state of emergency and pass a law preventing a president from serving more than two terms, and want the interior minister Habib al-Adly, to resign.

Protests in Egypt broke out after opposition groups waged an internet campaign inspired by the Tunisian uprising. Weeks of unrest in Tunisia eventually toppled president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali earlier this month,” sifi news reported.