Key Takeaways
- Global internet shutdowns by authoritarian regimes have sharply increased.
- Regimes use shutdowns to suppress dissent, control information, and enable violence.
- Such blackouts can backfire, intensifying protests and revealing government weakness.
- Digital resistance, including mesh networks and satellite internet, helps circumvent control.
- Stronger regimes prefer pervasive surveillance and censorship over complete shutdowns.
Deep Dive
- Global instances of internet shutdowns increased from 78 in 2016 to over 300 projected for 2024-2025.
- Authoritarian regimes commonly use shutdowns as a tactic to control populations and information.
- Ethiopia was noted as an early example of a government employing internet blackouts to suppress unrest between 2014 and 2017.
- The Iranian government cut nearly all internet access on January 8 as part of a crackdown on protestors.
- The goal was to prevent communication and organization, create a cover for violence, and cut off outside information.
- Regimes achieve these shutdowns by compelling state-owned or affiliated Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to cease network activity.
- Throttling, which slows internet connectivity to near unusable speeds, disrupts access without a complete blackout.
- Uganda used internet shutdowns during the 2021 elections to prevent vote tracking and manipulate results for the incumbent president.
- In armed conflicts, such as in Myanmar and Gaza, constant shutdowns are employed to obscure bombardments or assert control.
- Russia has used shutdowns defensively to prevent Ukrainian drones from accessing GPS coordinates for targeting Russian cities.
- People circumvent shutdowns using digital resistance tactics like Bluetooth mesh networks.
- Bridgify in Hong Kong and BitChat in Iran and Uganda enable text-only communication via individual smartphones.
- Starlink has deployed 40,000-50,000 terminals in Iran, operating despite government jamming efforts and Starlink's counter-updates.
- Starlink has remained active in Iran despite government attempts to block it and ongoing jamming efforts.
- Conversely, Starlink services were shut down in Uganda following a direct government directive.
- This contrast raises questions regarding Elon Musk's and Starlink's power and selective compliance in controlling global connectivity.
- Activists and citizens are advised to prepare with alternative communication tools like mesh networks as essential toolkits.
- Internet shutdowns are often a tool of desperation for weak regimes, and can backfire by drawing more attention to protests.
- Their effectiveness depends on the regime's political will and willingness to employ coercive measures.
- Stronger governments, such as China, utilize pervasive surveillance, censorship, and firewalls to control information, thereby eliminating the need for full shutdowns.
- Russia and some Gulf states aspire to implement similar advanced digital control systems.