Egypt has taken the dramatic step of shutting down internet and cellular phone access in an effort to stop social networking from facilitating the protest movement across the country. Much like Tunisia last week, and Iran after the 2009 election, social networking sites and mobile telecommunications have, at least in some way, facilitated popular protest.
In Egypt, part of the communications cracked down was made easier through the help of Western companies. Vodafone, the UK mobile phone carrier that operates globally, immediately complied with Egypt’s demand that it suspend cell phone service in the country.
This presents an older question: what is the obligation of corporations from liberal democracies when dealing with oppressive regimes? Evidenced by Google’s drama with the Chinese government, global free speech and assembly rights are increasingly confronting communications groups. Western companies now have fairly straightforward processes for evaluating labor standards of factories which produce their products in other countries (see, e.g. China Labor Watch). It seems implausible, however, to slapdash this system onto censorship issues, which encompass not just the small group of workers in production, but the entire society.
In any event, it is highly likely that further popular protests will be helped by communication technology. Whether or not Western companies will achieve consensus on how to address these events is anyone’s guess.