Egypt forced us to send text messages: Vodafone

London : Vodafone says Egyptian authorities forced it to broadcast pro-government messages during the protests that have rocked the North African nation.

Micro-blogging site Twitter has been buzzing with screen grabs from Vodafone’s Egyptian customers showing pro-government text messages sent to them in the run-up to the violent clashes in central Cairo which broke out on Wednesday.

Vodafone Group PLC said in a statement Thursday that Egyptian authorities have been using the country’s emergency laws to script text messages to its customers.

The UK - based company said it had no ability to change the content of the messages. It called the practice “unacceptable” and said it has protested to Egypt’s authorities.