Baghdad shuts down social media

The government in Baghdad announced on Friday that it was shutting down social media from midnight until further notice, Masralarabia.com has reported.

“The leadership issued an order to shut down the social media platforms in all the areas across the capital,” a security source explained. No further details were provided.

The shutdown was put in place due to fears that demonstrations calling for reform might have been organised on Friday evening. The security services also closed six main streets leading to the Green Zone in the centre of Baghdad, where large numbers of troops and police were deployed in the early morning.

At the time of writing, no news was available about whether or not the shutdown is still in place.