Internet Shutdowns

Why Does It Matter?

Governments often use Internet access shutdowns as swift, sweeping responses to non-technical problems. 

These can range from things like resorting to Internet shutdowns to prevent cheating during exam periods, to deliberately suppressing political activity. 

Sometimes the shutdown involves a configuration change, but it can be more extreme, such as cutting power off to key gateways, or, in the case of Sudan in 2021, can involve military threats to carry out the order. 

They also aren’t effective. Shutdowns don’t tend to deter the most determined exam cheaters, and they harm the whole population. They have a particular impact on women and gender minorities. It means being unable to communicate with loved ones, access money, or even check a transit schedule to check if they’re able to travel somewhere safely. This is especially the case in India, where shutdowns are more common than anywhere else in the world. 

Every shutdown not only cuts that region off from the Internet, it also cuts the world off from that region. Many web services use backend components based in multiple geographies, so even a company outside the area could be affected by the shutdown. 

This means every shutdown also reduces resilience, and damages confidence in the availability of the Internet as a global resource.