As a second day of protests continues, the Egyptian government has blocked the use of Youtube, Blogspot, Google's email service Gmail and their online talking device, Gchat in an effort to force protesters away from getting their voices heard. Bikya Masr confirmed with one of the country's Internet Service Providers (ISP) LinkDSL that they are not blocking Facebook or Google sites, but the government is blocking these services on other providers. Twitter was blocked on Tuesday in the country as demonstrations began pouring out onto the streets. Thousands of Egyptians have poured onto the streets the past two days in a rare public display of animosity toward the government. The demonstrations are part of the ongoing anger that was sparked by Tunisia's recent upheaval that saw that country's president leave the country. According to Bikya Masr reporters on the ground, Cairo's main Tahrir square saw upwards of 30,000 people take to the streets, throwing rocks at police who responded with tear gas. Protesters threw the canisters back at the police. Organizers of the protest, which took to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs to get the call out, said it was part of efforts to remove President Hosni Mubarak from his three-decade rule of the country. “We are here to show our anger and show the world and our government that this is too much,” Ahmed, a 25-year-old demonstrator, told Bikya Masr. “We have nothing left but to voice our anger, but will the government listen?” Among the many grievances the demonstrators wanted to show was their frustration over repeated police abuse of activists and average citizens. Tuesday was chosen for that exact reason. January 25 is a national holiday and Police Day in Egypt. Even The Guardian's correspondent in Egypt, Jack Shenker, was not immune to the crackdown by police late in the evening, as he was arrested and driven to a desert location where police used excessive force, he reported. BM
