CAIRO - The social networking site Facebook has been at the core of the Egyptian protests that erupted on January 25, seeking the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Simple online calls led many thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters to Al Tahrir Square in central Cairo, the epicentre of the revolt. The crucial role played by the world's largest social networking site was interrupted for more than five days when the Egyptian Government blocked the Internet in the whole country. But finally the service was restored for millions of users in Egypt on Wednesday, now called by many ‘the Facebook generation'. As protests have entered their thirteenth day, the pitched battles, which erupted between Mubarak's loyalists and opponents on Wednesday and Thursday found its way smoothly onto the Internet, as Mubarak's advocates created online groups in support of the embattled President. One such group slammed the protests and even severely criticised former chief of the international nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, who offered himself as a staunch critic of the Egyptian regime. Members of the "No for ElBaradei" group criticised his appearance on foreign TVchannels, attacking the regime. Many online groups, meanwhile, urged people to gather in the streets after the Friday noon prayer, February 4, to continue the protests and end Mubarak's three-decade rule, calling it ‘The Day of Departure'. A ‘Friday of Salvation'was the name of another group that offered an account of ‘Evil Deeds of the Regime', aiming to encourage people to take part in the protests. A page titled “Save Egypt” asked people to do their best to protect their country against nationwide rampant acts of sabotage. It offered enthusiastic rhyming phrases and lyrics to heighten people's patriotic feelings. Another group feared that chaos could ensue and warned against any acts of violence or sabotage, with the motto ‘No to Sabotage, No to Sedition, No to Killing – I am Egyptian – I won't take part in the demonstrations and restore Egypt to what it was before'. The same view was adopted by the ‘We love Egypt' Facebook page.
