Countries Where the Government Shuts Down the Internet

The government of this tiny landlocked absolute monarchy in southern Africa shut down the internet at least twice last year in response to pro-democracy protests. Eswatini King Mswati III has been in power since 1986.

This isolationist Central Asian country maintains strict control of internet access and cuts access completely in places where protests erupt, as it did for 13 days last year in the town of Khorog. Users must swear on the Quran, the Islamic holy book, not to use VPN circumvention tools before signing up for service.

An Amnesty International report last year said that since 2016, politically motivated and long internet shutdowns totaled nearly 2.5 years out of a five-year period. This country’s military junta is headed by Mahamat Déby, the son of longtime leader Idriss Déby who was killed last year while fighting rebels.

Syria shuts down the internet every spring during its high school examination period, ostensibly to limit cheating. Like other authoritarian states, the Syrian government severely restricts internet access, detains citizens for their online activity, and limits the amount of data residents can use each month.

This large Eurasian country routinely cuts access to the internet and mobile connectivity when mass riots or alleged anti-terrorism operations are taking place. In January, the government shut off the internet nationwide over protests against a sharp jump in fuel prices.

Amid Yemen’s ongoing civil war, internet access has not only been interrupted by Saudi- and UAE-led air strikes targeting telecommunication infrastructure, but also by warring parties inside the country that shut down access allegedly to hide human rights violations.

As with most of its neighbors in the region, the Iraqi government strictly controls internet use and routinely shuts down access to its citizens completely. Popular social media sites are blocked whenever massive anti government protests erupt.

Last October, Bangladesh’s telecommunications regulator ordered the country’s three mobile operators GrameenPhone, Robi Axiata, and Banglalink to temporarily shut down internet service amid heated protests and attacks on temples over alleged sacrilege by members of the Hindu minority. Bangladesh routinely shuts down access to the internet or social media sites during periods of unrest.

Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator ordered mobile network providers to temporarily shut down internet and mobile phone communications last September during anti-kidnapping operations in the country’s northwest. Africa’s largest country by population and economic clout is also weighing a bill that would strengthen the government’s ability to disrupt internet access and block social media.

In April of last year, Pakistan authorities ordered an hours-long shutdown of social media and instant messaging platforms amid violent protests against France over President Emmanuel Macron’s expressed support for the right of the press to re-published blasphemous cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad. Pakistan routinely shuts down or severely limits internet access, as it did in January ahead of protests in support of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The government of Indonesia implemented new regulations in 2020, requiring technology companies to remove content when government or non-governmental entities request it and to give law enforcement direct access to internet users’ data. In October, the country’s high court ruled that Jakarta may lawfully block internet access during periods of unrest, as it has done in the country’s Papua region.

In January 2021, the Ugandan government temporarily shut down access to the internet hours ahead of a national election, limiting the communications of citizens, opposition party members, and election observers. President Yoweri Museveni defended the move by accusing Facebook of deleting accounts tied to his ruling National Resistance Movement.

Ethiopia routinely shuts down internet access and limits or completely restricts internet and mobile communications in the northern Tigray Region where government forces are clashing with Tigray People’s Liberation Front rebels. Journalists have encountered blocks to sending digital images in order to curb the use of pictures in their reporting.

Like neighboring Syria, Jordan regularly shuts down internet access during examination periods to suppress students’ ability to digitally cheat on exams. In addition to other internet blackouts, the Jordanian government reportedly also throttles internet speeds in an effort to lead the public to blame social media platforms for slow connections instead of government-controlled ISPs and mobile services providers.

Responding to protests over a crippling economic crisis, the Cuban government blocked the internet or restricted social media access last year to prevent citizens from organizing demonstrations online. Cubans only attained access to mobile internet service in December 2018 through data plans purchased from Etecsa, the country’s state-owned telecom.

Like Syria and Jordan, Sudan blocks internet access during school exams to prevent students from cheating. But more insidiously, Sudan also periodically throttles or blocks internet and mobile communications during periods of unrest, as it did last October during the country’s military coup.

Last year, Iran temporarily disrupted mobile phone internet access amid violent water-shortage protests erupted in the southwest of the country. Iranian officials regularly order local internet shutdowns during periods of unrest, and citizens, including journalists and bloggers, are regularly hunted down and arrested for content they post online.

Two months after a military coup in Myanmar in February of last year, internet access was blocked for weeks. The military junta has increased the monitoring and tracking of critics’ online activity, and it routinely orders mobile and wireless providers to temporarily shut down access.

The world’s largest multiparty democracy has in recent years leaned in to Hindu nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and it regularly imposes regional internet shutdowns, mostly during times of regional political instability, but also during elections, protests, religious holidays, eruptions of communal violence, and during exam periods to curb students from cheating.