Opposition dubs Syria's Internet blackout "mental war"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syria's two-day Internet blackout was "a mental war" inflicted by the government, an opposition activist said Sunday, Dec 2 as service to the country was largely restored, CNN reported.

"So far, all areas that had Internet service before Thursday are connected," said Alexia Jade, a spokeswoman for the opposition Damascus Media Office.

While Internet access is back, theories and concerns abound on what caused the outage.

It also sparked fears that the government is stepping up efforts to quash the uprising by crushing the flow of information and alienating the country from the outside world.

"It appears to be back to normal, but it is impossible to tell if filtering or monitoring technology was installed during the outage," said Matthew Prince, CEO of CloudFlare, an Internet security company.

Global Web monitors said the country lost contact with the Web on Thursday, plunging into an Internet black hole.

Syria's information minister said "terrorists" cut the cable, knocking out Web communication with other countries. The government uses the word "terrorists" to refer to rebels in the ongoing civil war.

During the Syrian rebellion, anti-government fighters have routinely used the Web to transmit bloody images, including what they say are military attacks on civilians.