<http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-facebook-bans-free-speech-egypt-activi...> Would those social media accounts which supported Egypt's uprisings in 2011 now be shut down? Seven years after it helped launch the uprisings that led to the downfall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, Facebook is shutting down Egyptian activism online, Middle East Eye can reveal. The social media platform was lauded as a critical factor behind the uprisings – or "The Facebook Revolution" – which began on 25 January 2011 and drew tens of thousands of Egyptians onto the streets, changing their country’s trajectory. But Egyptian opposition activists of all political shades and stripes told MEE that during the past year, the company has repeatedly banned their pages and shut down their livestreams after trolls reported their posts over and over again.  Police detain students at al-Azhar University, Cairo during a protest backing the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 (AFP) Sawsan Gharib is a real estate agent in Texas and US spokesperson for Egypt’s April 6th movement, which was influential in the uprisings that ousted Mubarak. “I can’t communicate with other activists," she said. "I can’t communicate with people." Gharib said her personal page has been shut down more than six times during the past year. A second page she set up because of problems with the first has also been banned repeatedly. One of April 6th Facebook pages – called Mubasher 6 April or April 6th Direct - where the movement shared news, photos and videos, was also removed last July. The movement has since opened another page, but all the content posted on the original page is now gone. “All lost,” Gharib said. She believes pro-government trolls have targeted activists and movements like hers because they want to shut them down. She regularly appears on Turkish and Egyptian TV channels, speaking out against the government and sharing her views in Egyptian slang, attracting nearly 7,000 followers. “The homeless guy can understand me,” she said. [...]