Twitter blocked in Egypt as protests turn violent (Video)

By Melissa Bell



Anti-government protesters gather at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)

Protests have brought Cairo to a standstill this week as thousands have poured into the streets, shouting "Down with Mubarak" and clashing with riot police. The demonstrators are calling for an end to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power and were inspired by the Tunisian uprising that ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14.

The protests were organized on Facebook and Twitter, though reports are now surfacing that Twitter is being blocked in Egypt.

Vodafone Egypt seems to confirm the news that Twitter has been blocked:

We didn't block twitter - it's a problem all over Egypt and we are waiting for a solution. Vodafone Egypt

VodafoneEgypt

Despite the ban, people have still been tweeting about the events:

♻ @alaa: RT @embee: No Mobinil or Etisalat coverage in zamalek. Data or voice Manal Hassan

manal

Help we r suffocating Mohamed Abdelfattah

mfatta7

Protesters chanting 'Tunis Tunis,' 'Change or Death' Rawya Rageh

RawyaRageh

Egypt gets its Tiananmen square moment. Man bravely stands in front of armored vehicle! Must watch! http://mar.gy/DGJh #Jan25 #Egypt Habib Haddad

habibh

"Yesterday we were all Tunisian. Today we are all Egyptian. Tomorrow we'll all be free" #jan25 #sidibouzid #opegypt Amine

AfriNomad

Follow along with the tweets about the protests using our Twitter translator:

(The program uses Google Translate, so there might be some errors and some profanity.)

Select "English" from the drop-down menu to translate Tweets to English using Google Translate.





Here's video from earlier on Tuesday:



Anti-government protesters gather at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. (Mohamed Abd El-Ghany/Reuters)



Anti-government protesters gather at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)