Government Internet shutdowns on the rise internationally

Kevin Reed

Several recent media reports have pointed to the rise of government Internet shutdowns internationally as a mechanism of censorship, repression and control in response to growing political turmoil and mass protests. Based largely on data maintained by Access Now—an organization that “defends and extends the digital rights of users at risk around the world”—these reports show a trend of dramatically accelerating Internet shutdowns over the past three years.

Through its Shutdowns Tracker Optimization Project (STOP), Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition have been documenting and collecting data on Internet shutdowns since 2016. In early July of this year, the group issued a report called “The State of Internet Shutdowns Around the World.”

The report says, “In 2018, the global #KeepItOn coalition documented more than 196 internet shutdowns around the world. … 67% of the world’s documented shutdowns took place in India in 2018, with 134 incidents. The remaining 33% took place in a diverse range of countries: Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Mali, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, and Russia.”

Illustrating the rising trend, the report says that there were 75 shutdowns in 2016 and 106 shutdowns in 2017. According to Access Now, Internet shutdowns can be defined as “intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information.” This can also include blocking specific social media platforms.

The official rationale for government Internet shutdowns rarely, if ever, matches what is obviously the real reason. In some cases, governments provide no explanation and never publicly acknowledge that they are responsible for the shutdown.

Among the most common justifications that are given include “fake news” or disinformation, hate speech and related violence, securing public safety and national security, precautionary measures, and preventing cheating during exams. As analyzed in the #KeepItOn report, the real reasons for the shutdowns are political instability, mass protests, communal violence, elections and information control.

Of the 196 shutdowns in 2018, more than 80 percent were officially justified for public safety (91), national security (40) and fake news/hate speech (33) reasons. In rare instances, the official reasons match the real reasons. The report explains, “when governments shut down the internet citing ‘public safety,’ it is often evident to observers that, in reality, authorities may fear protests and cut off access to the internet to limit people’s ability to organize and express themselves, whether online or off.”

When citing “fake news,” rumors, or hate speech, governments “are often responding to a range of issues including protests, elections, communal violence, and militant activity, among others. Using these threats as scapegoats, it appears that governments are leveraging shutdowns to shape the political narrative and control the flow of information.”

The order to shut down the Internet can come from national, regional or local authorities in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of government. As the report explains, “The entity that orders a shutdown can impact the scope and effect of the shutdown. The geographic reach of a shutdown could extend beyond a country’s borders or be as localized as a few cellular towers on a protest route. Some countries have legislation that facilitates and legitimizes shutdowns, while others issue arbitrary orders that are not necessarily grounded in or supported by law.”