Facebook Reportedly Blocked by Egyptian Authorities

Egyptian authorities appear to dislike social networking. The government there has already blocked Twitter and now, according to a TechCrunch report, chatter on Twitter indicates that Egyptian authorities have also blocked Facebook.

The blocks seem to have been inspired by recent Tunisian demonstrations against corruption. Protestors have been filling the streets of Cairo to demonstrate against government corruption and policies.

As some of these protests were organized on Twitter and Facebook (News - Alert), the government decided to block access in order to gain better control.

It really shouldn’t be surprising if Facebook is in fact blocked, according to TechCrunch. The social networking giant has been actively used to organize demonstrations in Egypt. And, once Twitter was blocked, groups had to go somewhere to gain access to the masses.

One Facebook group actually features up-to-the-minute updates on the protests and photos from the scene. This group, We Are All Khaled Said, featured images of a man brutally tortured and killed by police in Alexandria. His death has become a rallying point for the demonstrations, which fall on “Police Day,” a national holiday in Egypt.

In other Facebook news, TMCnet recently reported that Facebook Credits will become the mandatory payment method for use of Facebook apps, and developers may not like the outcome. Likened to a universal currency across the board, TechCrunch reported that the news is likely to “ruffle some feathers.”

According to Jason Kincaid, “We’re hearing from one source that the social network is reaching out to game developers to inform them that it is making its own, official Facebook Credits currency mandatory. Our understanding is that it will be the exclusive currency as well.”

Twitter is also grabbing headlines as it was announced recently that the micro-blogging site is now worth $4 billion; just one month after the micro-blogging site was able to successfully raise $200 million in funding.

This jump represents a $300 million increase in value in just over one month. The funding round was conducted in December and set the company’s valuation at $3.7 billion. This latest round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Facebook shared its plans to take its advertising business beyond gaming to enjoy even greater success.The company’s 500-plus million users and the information they share has become a virtual goldmine.

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