Iranian Twitter activist Arasmus has created a Google Maps mash-up to document protesters’ Twitter reports during the Libyan anti-government uprising.

Last week, violent protests surged throughout the north African country of Libya, as protesters clashed with security forces in an attempt to end Muammar al-Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. Qaddafi has responded with far more violence than any of the other embattled Mideast autocracies. Human Rights Watch has tallied at least 233 protester deaths from regime security forces so far; Al Jazeera is reporting that another 250 have been killed on Monday alone. Despite a media blackout, reports are emerging on Al Jazeera and elsewhere that fighter jets and helicopters are attacking demonstrators in Tripoli and Benghazi.

Like similar uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt — which are said to have inspired the people of Libya — the internet and social media have played their roles in the unrest. Websites like Facebook, Twitter and news provider Al Jazeera have been intermittently blocked, and on February 18 internet access in the country was blocked entirely. Six hours later, the web was mostly back.

Protesters in the country are now taking full advantage of their restored connectivity by posting reports and accounts on Twitter. Arasmus takes the most pertinent, and trustworthy, reports and places them on a Google Map on the country. So far, the map shows reported gunfire, killings, mercenary sightings, helicopter slayings and electricity disconnections.

The map isn’t dynamically generated from Twitter reports, but that’s for safety reasons rather than technical ones, says Arasmus. “The danger of an automatic map is that you will reveal too much information too soon and put protesters in danger,” he said on his Twitter account.

It should also be noted that none of the reports and accounts can be verified because Libya has a stringent lockdown on independent reporters in the country. With violence at a huge scale (Human Rights Watch says the death toll passed 100 after just four days of protesting), undercover reporting isn’t sensible, says BBC World News editor Jon Williams.

As a result, observers have to rely even more closely on first hand reports and social media accounts than any of the other recent Middle East revolutions.

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