( CNN ) -- Internet connections across Syria went down Tuesday night , according to several global monitoring sites . Google reported that its services became inaccessible in Syria around 9:45 p.m. ( 2:45 p.m . ET ) . The Renesys , Akamai and BGPmon Internet tracking companies also reported the loss of Syrian Internet connectivity at that time . `` It seems Syria has largely disappeared from the Internet , '' Dan Hubbard , chief technology officer for Umbrella Security Labs , wrote in a blog post about the apparent outage . The website for Syria 's state-run news agency and several government websites were not accessible . CNN staff in Damascus could not connect to the Internet . At one hotel , staffers said the Internet was down `` in the hotel and all of Damascus . '' Opposition activists reported widespread power and Internet outages in Damascus and throughout the country , warning that the communications cutoff could be an ominous sign . The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said the activist network would put `` all responsibility on regime forces for any violation or massacres against civilians . '' The cause of the apparent outage was unclear . `` Although we ca n't yet comment on what caused this outage , past incidents were linked to both government-ordered shutdowns and damage to the infrastructure , which included fiber cuts and power outages , '' Hubbard wrote . After a similar situation in November , U.S . Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told CNN that Syria had shut down the Internet in the past . `` The Syrian government has been monitoring ( the Internet ) for years , '' he said . `` They have been using the Internet with Iranian assistance to track opposition activists , arrest and kill them . '' `` That is the reason why our nonlethal assistance to the Syrian opposition , we put a special emphasis on communications equipment precisely to help the Syrian people tell the world what is going on inside Syria , '' he said . Technology has become a key weapon used by both sides of Syria 's civil war to fight for their cause , with opposition activists using social media to report violence and a group of pro-Syrian government hackers known as the Syrian Electronic Army targeting major news organizations and activists . CNN 's Frederik Pleitgen reported from Damascus , Syria . CNN 's Wayne Gray and Luke Henderson contributed to this report .
NEW : Opposition activists report widespread power and Internet outages . Monitoring sites report the loss of Syrian Internet connectivity at 9:45 p.m . Web security analyst : `` It seems Syria has largely disappeared from the Internet '' Google also reports that its services are inaccessible in Syria .