Bahrain: in protest crackdown, regime appears to have tightened internet filtering

Protests continue today in Bahrain, and the regime there has responded violently. BB pal Ethan Zuckerman points us to this chart that shows that the Bahrain internet is not shut down, per se, but rather much slowed—most likely by filtering.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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Anonymous

Posting from Bahrain: nope, they’re still working. The tough thing was that teh internets here were always pretty slow (I couldn’t upload to Vimeo back in December).
Rick York

I know I may sound cynical but, I hope no one is surprised. Egypt and Tunisia were miracles. Both Tunisia and Egypt have at least half a century of secular traditions. They are unlikely to be repeated for quite a while. Their respective militaries recognized quite quickly that their own interests no longer coincided with Ben Ali and Mubarak

First, one needs to recognize that the “royal” rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and their ilk really believe in their Divine Right to rule. Their militaries and police are utterly beholden to the ruling families. The Burmese military is the same.

Ahmadinejad and the clerics running Iran believe they are sanctioned by their God. And, unfortunately, the Greens there do not represent the majority. Likewise, the military and security apparati are totally creatures of their clerical rulers. When – not if – these rulers fall, so will the security forces. But not without furious and extensive bloodshed.

China, Burma and now Bahrain demonstrate that when the establishment is willing to kill their own citizens, they will win – in the short term.
- mdh
  
  However, unlike Burma and China, we have our 5th Fleet based in Bahrain.
Patrick Dodds

Ah, it makes me once more proud of my Great British heritage of selling arms to anyone with money:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/17/bahrain-crackdown-uk-arms-sales

Well of course, if we didn’t do it, someone else would. So that’s alright then.
Anonymous

Its looking more and more likely that the upcoming Formula 1 race in Bahrain will be cancelled.

Can’t say I shall shed many tears for either Bernie Ecclestone or the Bahraini organisers.