Syria has restored access to video sharing website youtube and social networking website facebook. Access to youtube had been blocked in August 2007 and Facebook was blocked in November 2007. Syrians were unable to directly access these websites and could only gain access to them using proxy servers. While internet users in Syria were able to directly access these sites now, the head of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, Mazen Darwish, would only say that he had “semiofficial confirmation” the ban is being lifted.