Facebook reported inaccessible in Egypt

A website that monitors Internet traffic was receiving reports Wednesday that Facebook was inaccessible in Egypt, a day after Twitter was blocked amid anti-government unrest.

Asked about the social network's status in Egypt, a Facebook spokesman referred AFP to Herdict.org, a project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

The Herdict.org website listed two reports of www.facebook.com being inaccessible in Egypt.

There was no immediate reply from Herdict.org to a request for further information about the status of Facebook in Egypt, where tens of thousands of demonstrators have staged protests against President Hosni Mubarak and his 30-year rule.

Twitter said its service remained blocked in Egypt as of 2200 GMT on Wednesday but that some people were using third-party applications or proxy servers to successfully send "tweets" at the microblogging service.

The Twitter website had been cut off in Egypt on Tuesday in an apparent move to thwart protesters using the social network in the anti-Mubarak campaign.

"We believe that the open exchange of information and views benefits societies and helps governments connect with their people," Twitter said in a message at àtwitterglobalPR.

Twitter and Facebook were among Internet social networking services protesters reportedly used to share information and coordinate activities.

Swedish live video streaming site Bambuser said its service had been blocked in Egypt since Tuesday.

Egyptian security was out in force on Wednesday after activists called more street protests, facing down a massive police presence to demand the ouster of Mubarak in protests inspired by Tunisia's popular uprising.

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