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27-02-2025
LONDON: Governments around the world oversaw a record-breaking year for internet shutdowns in 2024, a new report on “digital violence” suggests.
There were 296 internet shutdowns documented across 54 countries last year, surpassing the 283 shutdowns in 39 countries in 2023, says the report by Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition, published on Monday.
Conflict remained the leading cause of internet shutdowns for the second consecutive year, according to the report, with perpetrators employing tactics ranging from jamming devices and severing cables to destroying infrastructure and sabotaging service providers.
Myanmar led the global list of offenders with 85 internet shutdowns. The outages were primarily imposed by the military government to target “a population resisting its dictatorship four years after the coup”, Access Now wrote.
Cross-border shutdowns saw a sharp rise. These included shutdowns carried out by Russia in Ukraine, Israel in Gaza, and Thailand and China in Myanmar.
India dropped from the top in 2023 to second place, with 84 shutdowns. Pakistan recorded 21 shutdowns; it’s highest-ever total.
Israeli ‘digital violence’ in MENA region
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region saw 41 internet shutdowns across 17 countries in 2024, down from 77 in 2023. However, the number of affected countries increased from 15 to 17.
Authorities in 10 MENA countries implemented 18 platform blocks in 2024 as a method of information control, the report said, while armed conflicts drove 12 internet shutdowns, endangering civilians’ safety.
Israel led the region with six shutdowns during its war on Gaza, “systematically cutting off” connectivity and destroying telecommunication infrastructure despite international criticism, the report said.
In Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) weaponized shutdowns during the ongoing war, disrupting access to vital services for millions.
The year also saw cyberattacks from the Anonymous Sudan hacker group causing shutdowns in Bahrain, Chad, and Israel, while Mauritania enacted the region’s first election-related shutdown since 2021.
The region continued to lead globally in exam-related shutdowns, with 10 disruptions across five countries, including Algeria, Iraq, and Syria, under the pretext of preventing cheating, despite resistance from civil society.
Meanwhile, since December 2023, Telecommunication services have been cut off in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian telecoms company Paltel has said, as Israel intensifies its assault on the besieged territory.
“We regret to announce the complete cessation of the communications and Internet services with the Gaza strip, as the main paths that were previously reconnected were disconnected again,” Paltel said in a statement on Monday.
Cybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks confirmed that the “near-total internet blackout” would be “experienced as a total loss of communications by most residents”.
All three of Sudan’s main internet operators were offline on Wednesday, internet observatory NetBlocks has said, cutting communications for millions of people stuck in conflict zones or fleeing for their safety.
The network blackout could also freeze e-wallets that many people depend upon amid a widespread cash shortage.
A source from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary has denied responsibility, the Reuters news agency reported, and the companies have not publicly blamed anyone for the outages. (Int’l News Desk)
