14 DAY TRIAL // As the Syrian government announced that it was working to repair the widespread Internet outage in the country, most think something else is going on.
And their opinion is justified. A state-run news agency said that an optic cable malfunction caused the outage, CNN reports.
However, that excuse doesn’t sound right to most as it’s impossible not to wonder what kind of technical issue cuts off the Internet in an entire country.
So if a technical problem isn’t the issue, what is?
Given the fact that the country is currently in full civil war, a strategic measure can’t be ruled out. The absence of the Internet makes things harder for the rebel fighters to organize.
And maybe the Syrian government is taking note of the civil war that took over Libya in 2011. Then, Twitter communication was essential for those who opposed Gaddafi’s army.
Instead, as many reports show, the Syrian troops are fighting in Khirbet Ghazaleh, a southern town, after rebel fighters withdrew following two months of bombardment.
Violent clashes have been reported in the town in the past few hours and rebel fighters seem to have regained control over at least one district, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports.
Technology seems to have become a key weapon used by both sides of Syria’s civil war to fight for their cause.
“The Syrian government has been monitoring the Internet for years. They have been using the Internet with Iranian assistance to track opposition activist, arrest and kill them,” U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said after the November Internet blackout.
As the US and Russians brought back talks about an international conference on Syria, questions arise about how much longer the blackout is going to last and if the Syrian government and oppositions leaders will agree to the event that means to help put order in the country.
For those who are not familiar with the situation, Internet connections have died suddenly late last evening, at about 18:45 UTC everywhere in Syria and haven’t been restored yet.
Similar situations have happened in November 2012 and June 2011.