I didn’t even know this was really possible, but the Egyptian government has completely shut down Internet access and SMS texting communication for 80 million people.
Is this a North Korean-esque stunt to keep the Egyptian people shut off from the outside world? Well President Hosni Mubarek has been facing quite a lot of citizen unrest, demanding an end to his 30-year rule. And I’m guessing this isn’t going to help his cause. In fact, on Friday, Mubarek ordered troops and tanks into Egyptian cities to quell street fighting and mass protests.
While questions of democracy and safety are top of mind right now, this has raised a big question in the tech world. Specifically regarding the idea of how a government can shut down the Internet. Well, it looks like they simply demanded the shutdown of Egypt’s four largest Internet service providers.
Could that happen here?