Libya shuts down Internet service

The Libyan government initiated an Internet blackout for the second consecutive day in response to protests against the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi.

As reported in Reuters citing data that Arbor Networks gathered from 30 Internet service providers, Libya's inbound and outbound Internet traffic was cut off at 7:15 p.m. ET on Friday following two partial shutdowns that came earlier in the day.

Although limited Internet access later became avialable a number of hours later on Friday, it was shut down again on Saturday around 4:55 p.m. ET.

Libya is the latest North African country in recent months to shut down the Internet in an effort to silence anti-government protesters, who are using the Internet to organize their opposition efforts. Last month, the Egyptian government shut down the country's Internet access in response to a similar outcry against its leader Hosni Mubarak, who resigned after 30 years of ruling the country last week.

For more:
- Reuters has this article

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