Houthi intelligence forces detained the leaders of the National Union of Internet Networks on Tuesday, a day after the internet advocates went on strike to protest price hikes, bandwidth reductions and other recent restrictions.

In a statement seen by Almasdar Online, the union condemned the arrest of its president, Ahmed Al-Alimi, and its secretary-general, Ali Al-Badawi by the the Houthi-run Security and Intelligence Service.

The arrests came a few hours after Al-Alimi and Al-Badawi, both software engineers, met with Houthi leaders to discuss the recent price hikes and bandwidth reductions by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which have forced thousands of WiFi service providers out of business. Houthi security forces have also recently begun confiscating the hardware the small business owners use to broadcast the WiFi.