You need to know what going on in Egypt. It’s going on right now. These are scenes you need to see. Egypt has gone offline. This is happening now, and it should matter to you. Really, it matters.
Why would the Egyptian government cut off access to social media? Ask Iran:
Twitter didn’t start the protests in Iran, nor did it make them possible. But there’s no question that it has emboldened the protesters, reinforced their conviction that they are not alone and engaged populations outside Iran in an emotional, immediate way that was never possible before. [...] Totalitarian governments rule by brute force, and because they control the consensus worldview of those they rule. Tyranny, in other words, is a monologue. But as long as Twitter is up and running, there’s no such thing.
Twitter isn’t up and running in Egypt. Control the media and control the message? We’ll have to see about that, as the Egyptian government is limited in their reach. They can’t cut off our media. They can’t stop our signal. Whether you support the protesters or fear the outcomes if they are successful, this is a signal that needs to be boosted. You need to know what is happening in Egypt. Whatever the outcome, it is going to have global ramifications.
At least we don’t have to worry about a nation-wide internet shut off here, right?
