Large-scale anti-government protests and more violence unfolded across Syria Friday, with opposition groups calling on demonstrators to camp out in public squares until President Bashar al-Assad's regime is ousted.

The protests coincide with reports of increased violence against demonstrators by al-Assad's security forces, even as an Arab League fact-finding mission works to determine whether the Syrian government is abiding by a peace agreement to end a brutal crackdown on protesters.

As they have in their nearly 10 months of resistance, Syrian activists and opposition groups used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to urge thousands to evade al-Assad's forces and defy government-imposed curfews.