On January 27^th, Egypt’s government banned the Internet because of the riots and protests against their current president, Hosni Mubarak.  Most of these protests were arranged through Facebook and Twitter, which is why Mubarak cut down the usage of the Internet.  The median age of people living in Egypt is 24, so they were successful in organizing riots through social media.  Egyptians were protesting against horrid conditions in their country, where well-educated people can’t find jobs, and most people are living on $ 4 a day.  Even text messaging was blocked to try and decrease the riots.

Because of third-party apps and proxy sites, however, the citizens were still able to communicated and get the message out there.

But, as of the second day of February, reports showed that the Internet and cell phone networks were back up and running.  Official websites like the country’s bank and stock exchange are now working again.  According to DigitalTrends.com, “The reconnection, which includes access to previously blocked sites like Twitter, comes only a day after more than a million Egyptians converged on Tahrir square in Cairo to call for President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power.”  Mubarak decided not to run for re-election in September.

You might be wondering, “Why is there an article about Egypt on an American Internet Marketing blog?”  Well, according to CNN.com, “CNET reports the United States is considering giving Obama the power to cut private Internet access in the event of disaster.”  I read that and was like, “What?!”  If, for some reason, Americans are so fed up with our government that we start to plan riots over the Internet, Obama might be allowed to cut Internet access.  Could you imagine a week or two without the Internet?  Americans (and many people around the world) are spoiled with instant gratification and immediate answers because of the Internet.  And now, thousands and thousands of people use the Internet as their sole way of making money.  If the Internet was shut down in America for a week, just like in Egypt, what do you think would happen?

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