The buzz around Twitter and Facebook (News - Alert) the past few days has primarily regarded the standoff between the National Telecommunications Regulation Authority (NTRA) in Egypt, local telecoms, and citizens who recently found their mobile VoIP services suddenly turned off.
According to a report from local news source Egyptian Streets, citizens are alighting on social media with the hashtag #SaveTheInternet. On Twitter (News - Alert), it became Egypt’s top trending hashtag following release of this news in the country on October 5. The NTRA released a statement that said it would need an order from service providers to halt service of apps like Skype, Viber, and WhatsApp. But all three mobile telecoms in the country have hit back, with Etisalat (News - Alert), Mobinil, and Vodafone saying that the NTRA told the companies to deny such services.
The NTRA has held to the idea that this shutoff is nothing but a “rumor.” However, industry expert Ahmed Medhat, a managing director at InfraLayer and communications expert, says this situation reeks of political fervor. It is NTRA’s way of closing down anything it is unable to monitor, he noted, and mentioned that it could be motivated by fear of terrorist-like threats.
This type of situation is nothing new. Earlier this year, TMC provided a report about the situation in the United Arab Emirates where the government had reportedly blocked the use of Skype (News - Alert) across the country. Even students at college campuses found that Skype service was down and had witnessed periods of inactivity throughout the past year.
For the time being, the official statement the Egyptian telecoms reported says that only mobile communication should be affected. This should leave Skype communication free to operate across broadband, but many citizens have tweeted that service has been inactive there as well.
From a security standpoint, it may make sense in the eyes of some officials that blocking uncontrolled networks of communication could make the country a safer place. In the eyes of the public, though, this type of indiscriminate shutoff comes across as just a government power play – ultimate control over its citizens under the guise of platitudes. The outcry on social media does well to show the attitude of the populace which, with quotes (sic) such as “Last week Sisi said Egypt enjoys unprecedented freedom of expression. Now Skype,Whatsapp&Viber are blcked for nat’l security,” displays feelings of unrest and a use of sarcasm aimed directly at seemingly-unfair actions.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson