Web page editor arrested

The authorities arrested Hussein Ali Makki, the editor of the Facebook and Twitter pages of Rasad News, an important source of news about human rights violations in Bahrain. Thereafter, the security forces apparently gained control of these pages, and began posting content critical of the demonstrations and openly supporting the government crackdown. Access to PalTalk, an online voice and video chat service that allows communication with Internet users on different networks, had meanwhile reportedly been blocked since the start of June. “Bahrain Nation,” a chatroom that allowed government opponents to talk to hundreds of Bahraini Internet users, was apparently one of the main targets.