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I posted an article last week about opposition to whether or not social media makes an impact in countries that find themselves in situations like Egypt's. This article, however, tends to thing Twitter can actually have an effect.

I think Egypt may have been a trend setter in Africa. It seems that many dictatorship regimes are getting nervous when it comes to an uprising from the grassroots. I think it is fair to say that the internet, especially social media, is playing a huge role in the peoples ability to overthrow their governments. Technology has become such an important part of the culture in the world that something that previously required wars and months of planning can happen so quickly nearly overnight. Perhaps it is this very idea that leads Libya's government to make the decision that this article explains.

"How American-Made Tech Helped Middle Eastern Governments Censor the Internet" A new Harvard University study details how American and Canadian companies provided Internet filtering and monitoring software to the Iranian government, Mubarak's Egypt and other repressive states. It's still going on.