The protests around the Middle East have apparently forced some concessions on internet openness in Syria. Recent planned protests in Syria failed to gather many demonstrators, the government says that was because everyone loves President Bashar al-Assad, the protestors say it’s because people fear retribution. Nonetheless, Syria today lifted a 5-year-old ban on Facebook. Presumably, the government saw how wild things got in Egypt after the internet was turned off there so they’re thinking more freedom might be the way to go. One Syrian quoted in the Guardian said everyone’s been using Facebook anyway through European proxy servers. No word yet on how Facebook will handle security for users in Syria.
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