Twitter says access to its services in Egypt blocked

Twitter, which has more than 175 million users globally, said access to its service was blocked in Egypt, where thousands of people are clashing with the government and police.

Twitter’s service was blocked beginning at 11 am New York time today, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The blockage is affecting the main site, Twitter.com, and Twitter- related software applications, the company said.

“We believe that the open exchange of info and views benefits societies and helps govts better connect” with people, Twitter said in a separate message posted to its site. The company didn’t say in its messages who it believes to be responsible for the blocked service.

Twitter users earlier said they were unable to access Twitter in Egypt, according to Herdict.org, a site that monitors website accessibility. Posts on Herdict blaming the Egyptian government for blocking Twitter couldn’t be confirmed as accurate, Laura Miyakawa, a Herdict project manager, said in an interview.

Protests to denounce the government of President Hosni Mubarak had erupted in Egypt earlier in the day, resulting in the death of a policeman and two demonstrators.

Iran’s government blocked Twitter and another social-networking site, Facebook Inc, in the run-up to presidential elections in 2009, Arbor Networks, a network security company in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, said at the time. Activists in Iran had used social-networking services including Twitter to organize rallies, exchange information and attract supporters.