2023 Was Worst Year for Internet Shutdowns, Report Finds

ILast year, the Internet shutdown in India’s Manipur state lasted a staggering 212 days, as the state government issued 44 consecutive orders to shut down access on all broadband and mobile networks. The shutdown affected a population of 3.2 million people and made it more difficult to document rampant atrocities committed against minorities during the bloody violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo tribes, which included murder, rape, arson and other forms of gender-based violence , says Access. Now a digital rights watchdog that publishes an annual report on internet shutdowns around the world.

Manipur was just one of hundreds of cases in which Indian authorities used the tactic as “a near-standard response to crises, both proactively and reactively,” according to the group’s latest report published on May 15. global list for imposing the most internet shutdowns after removing access 116 times in 2023.

What’s more, Access Now called 2023 the worst year for internet shutdowns globally, recording 283 shutdowns across 39 countries – the highest number of shutdowns in a single year since it began tracking in 2016. That’s a sharp 41% increase. compared to the previous year, which saw 201 shutdowns across 40 countries, and a 28% increase from 2019, which previously held the record for the most shutdowns.

“By almost every indicator, 2023 is the worst internet shutdown year on record – highlighting an alarming and dangerous trend for human rights,” the report states.

See more information: How Internet Shutdowns Wreak Havoc in India

173 of the closures in 2023 occurred in conflict zones and corresponded to acts of violence. In the Gaza Strip, for example, the Israeli military “used a combination of direct attacks on civilian telecommunications infrastructure, restrictions on access to electricity and technical disruptions to shut down the Internet”, the report reads. (In a statement to TIME, the IDF said: “As part of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF is facilitating the restoration of infrastructure in war-affected areas and is coordinating with local teams to carry out infrastructure repair at these locations.”)

And in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, security forces imposed a near-total communications blockade to cause terror and mass displacement through the destruction of property and indiscriminate shelling across the region, according to the report.

The watchdog also highlights that although the increase in closures associated with violence during armed conflicts has been high, in 74 cases in nine countries – including Palestine, Myanmar, SudanIt is Ukraine—conflicting political parties claimed to implement closures during protests and politically unstable events as a peacekeeping measure. In India alone, authorities have ordered 65 closures in 2023 in a specific attempt to address communal violence. Similarly, Pakistan and Bangladesh have imposed seven and three closures, respectively, as a way of suppressing political dissent during political rallies and election campaigns.

See more information: Exclusive: Tech companies are failing to keep elections secure, rights groups say

93% of all cases recorded in 2023 occurred without prior warning to the public of an imminent closure; a practice that, according to Access Now, only deepens fear and uncertainty and puts more people in serious danger.

“We are at an inflection point, so take this as a wake-up call: all stakeholders around the world – governments, civil society and the private sector – must take urgent action to permanently end internet shutdowns,” said Zach Rosson, a data analyst at Access Now said in a statement.