Emboldened democracy activists and bloggers in the Arab world used the internet to celebrate the downfall of Tunisia's authoritarian president and warn other leaders they face a similar fate.
In Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak has been in power for three decades, one Facebook page was entitled "Project to prepare a plane for each president" and several pages called on the 82-year-old leader to start packing his bags. Rights campaigners have latched onto the Internet's potential to circumvent tight media restrictions - Tunisia's draconian firewall failed to stop images of wounded demonstrators reaching the Web and sparking wider protests. Egypt has partly liberalised its airwaves but emergency powers in force for more than three decades allow the authorities to break up street protests and the main opposition.