Following in the footsteps of one Hosni Mubarak, the Syrian supremo, Bashar Al-Assaad has shut down access to internet to stem the growing tide of resentment against him, and to quell another rebellion in the state.
Image from Amnesty USA
According to the article in Mashable:
“Starting at 3:35 UTC today, approximately two thirds of all Syrian networks became unreachable from the global Internet,” Internet intelligence firm Renesys reported on its blog today.
These are sinister signs. Gagging of the revolution did not work in Egypt and Mubarak was eventually forced to abdicate in favor of a democratic government. How that works out is another thing, but the fall of dictatorship is always welcome.
And going by recent history, there is going to be the same results in Syria as well. From what I have read in the popular media, while Egypt shut down its internet, Posterous came forward as an important tool to keep the rebels united.
It appears Syria is headed towards a similar fate and the social politician in me will watch the events unfold with great interest.
So it seems its not just West Bengal that the winds of political changes are blowing strong, eh?
Image Credits: Third Age
Scepticemia 