Telecommunications company Vodafone says that it has been forced to send pro-government messages to its subscribers in Egypt during the country’s recent protests.
In a short press statement released today, the network said that the Egyptian government had invoked emergency powers to instruct the mobile networks of Mobinil, Etisalat and Vodafone to send scripted messages to subscribers.
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These messages included statements like “The Armed Forces asks Egypt’s honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor and our precious Egypt.”
“These messages are not scripted by any of the mobile network operators and we do not have the ability to respond to the authorities on their content,” says the company. Vodafone claims it has protested the Egyptian government’s demands and regards these messages as “unacceptable.”
“We have made clear that all messages should be transparent and clearly attributable to the originator,” today’s statement reads.
The company has come under fire for its role in the week-long Internet blackout.
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