In the western world, the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have demonstrated to us a number of important things about the Middle East. Chief among them, that its people are not pre-disposed towards theocratic slavery, that great change through non-violent means is possible, and that government blockage of online services as a means of silencing dissent tends to backfire really badly. It looks like Algerian President Abdelaziz Boutiflika got the message, at least on the last part, and despite how much easier it might be for his regime to cut off Algeria’s connections, the tubes remain operational as anti-government protests intensify in the region.On Saturday it was reported that the Algerian government responded to growing pro-democracy demonstrations there by severing the country’s internet connections. But come on, they couldn’t be that stupid. Sure enough, a quick analysis by traffic monitor Renesys proved these reports to be false. But if the regime was gutsy (and foolish) enough to go ahead and cut the cord, taking the country offline would be a cinch — a fraction of the effort it required in Egypt. Here’s what we’ve scraped up so far:As it turns out, Algeria’s internet is very unlike that of Egypt and Tunisia. Instead of being is wired up through multiple private-owned ISP’s, Algeria has had an extremely limited number of providers (perhaps just one, as this Reddit commenter claims) ever since severing their ties with French provider Wanadoo a number of years ago. It’d be much more comparable to flipping a switch than with Egypt’s internet harakiri act, which presumably took a substantial amount of planning and precision to execute.Everything about the internet is owned and operated by the government. And yet, also unlike other autocratic regimes, the country’s leaders make few attempts at pervasive censorship. Instead, they put forth severe penalties to threaten citizens from publishing information that might "tarnish the country’s international image or its officials’ reputation" (Sound familiar to anyone?).According to a 2009 study, about 12.8% of the population (4.5 million) would be affected if Algeria’s internet was unplugged. But of that 12.8%, over 90% deepy depend on the net, saying they wouldn’t be able to get by "without going online 'at least once a day'".A repeat of the Egyptian protests, which intensified greatly after the internet went off, isn’t the only thing staying the hand of the Algerian government. Hackers and engineers already possess the means to easily distribute ad-hoc internet services, and there’s little doubt Anonymous is also ready to step up and lend a hand to the revolting masses.Even in light of the recent surges, it would seem the government’s tactics remain on the side of brute force. Protests on Saturday) purportedly ended in over 1,000 arrests as riot police overpowered the growing crowds in the capital of Algiers. While it’s still not certain how accurate the numbers in these reports are, it’s clear Boutiflika’s government is keeping their hands off the internet kill switch for now. But is it out of fear, responsibility or simply because it’s not necessary?More Infowars, Censorship & Revolutions:
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