Bahrain Trying to Keep Citizens Offline

As protests have gathered steam in Bahrain over the past few days, Internet use in the country has drastically slowed, leading Web analysts to believe the drop is the result of government restrictions.

Data collected by Web traffic-monitoring firm Arbor Networks showed that Internet traffic coming in and out of Bahrain is 10 to 20 percent lower than expected levels, according to the New York Times.

Traffic drops of that magnitude are typically the result of natural disasters or major global sporting events, Jose Nazario, Arbor's senior manager of security research, told the Times. Nazario said that based on the data, Arbor concluded that the Bahrainian government is most likely blocking its users from accessing websites.

During the Egyptian protests late last month, the Egyptian government shut down all Internet communications in the country for five days.

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