Algeria blocks social media to beat exam cheats
Algeria temporarily blocked access to social networks on Sunday to prevent cheating after leaked papers forced hundred of thousands of students to resit high school final exams.
Facebook and Twitter have been blocked since late Saturday and are to remain inaccessible to millions of Algerians until after the last test on Thursday, a telecom source told AFP.
The decision "is directly linked to the baccalaureate" and aimed at "protecting students from falling prey to fake questions" posted online, the source said.
More than 500,000 students out of the 800,000 who had sat the exams known as the "baccalaureate" this month were being re-tested Sunday, the education ministry said.
It said most of the leaks cover science subjects and mathematics.
"The authorities have chosen the simplest solution," said information technology expert Younes Grar.
He said the risk of fraud could have been prevented if the authorities had chosen to encrypt the exam questions and printed them at exam centres instead of transporting hard copies across the country.
"The decision to block social networks penalises millions of Internet users," he said.
According to official estimates, 18 million Algerians out of a population of 40 million are active on the Internet and social networks.
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