Internet shutdowns pose a threat to human rights around the world. An internet shutdown is an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information. Frequently, government officials order companies to cut off people’s access to communications tools during times of social unrest, public protest, political upheaval, or times of conflict. Unfortunately, companies nearly always comply with government requests.
You can’t imagine how hard it was, not being able to have access to the internet and some mobile services. I was sometimes obliged to cross the border to Rwanda to check my emails and to send out some tweets about the current situation.
— Arsène Tungali, Journalist
Opportunity
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U.N. officials declared in 2015 that internet kill switches can never be justified during conflict under international law, in the Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Responses to Conflict Situations. The U.N. also included universal internet access and connectivity in the Sustainable Development Goals, recognizing the importance of stable and secure internet access to development, especially for small business owners dependent on mobile money services. |
We are here to help
Access Now has the tools to equip you to prevent and mitigate these blanket bans on communications. Our Telco Action Plan and Telco Remedy Plan provide clear guidelines for telcos on how best to combat internet shutdowns. Our Digital Security Helpline is a free of charge resource for civil society around the world. We offer real-time, direct technical assistance, including advice on how to circumvent blocking, to activists, independent media, and civil society organizations.
TELCO ACTION PLAN (PDF)
TELCO REMEDY PLAN (PDF)
DIGITAL SECURITY HELPLINE
What you can do
- Join our #KeepItOn campaign, download and remix our Visuals Kit with #KeepitOn graphics, and spread the word
- Document any evidence of a shutdown, such as through screenshots of 404 pages or official announcements
- Develop contingency plans and alternative access points in case you cannot rely on the internet
- Contact our 24 hour Digital Security Helpline
- Tell governments and carriers that shutdowns violate your human rights!
Latest News
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- More African countries are blocking internet access during elections (6/1/2016, Quartz Africa)
- Vietnam restricted access to Facebook during Obama visit: activists (5/27/2016, Reuters)
- Ghana: Police consider shut down of social media on election day (5/26/2016, CitiFM Online)
- Stop being paranoid about social media, activists tell Uganda government (5/24/2016, African Centre for Media Excellence)
- Vietnam blocks Facebook and cracks down on human rights activists during Obama visit (5/23/2016, Access Now)
- How Iraq turned off the internet (5/19/2016, Wired)
- Internet shut down in Azamgarh, India due to riots; a brief history (5/17/2016, Medianama)
- Iraq shut down its internet to prevent 6th graders from cheating (5/17/2016, The Atlantic)
- Leaked email: Iraq shut down its internet again (5/17/2016, SMEX)
- Social media access blocked in Uganda ahead of President Museveni’s inauguration (5/11/2016, Global Voices)
- Brazil moves to block WhatsApp (again) (5/2/2016, Access Now)
- How African governments block social media (4/25/2016, BBC News)
- As Patidars clash with police — arrests, curfew, curbs on Internet (4/18/2016, The Indian Express)
- Mobile internet suspended in 5 districts in Kashmir, India (4/14/2016, Medianama)
- Twitter, WhatsApp Down in Oromia, Ethiopia after unrest (4/12/2016, Bloomberg)
- Internet remains cut in Chad after tense elections (4/11/2016, The Citizen)
- Congo-Brazzaville imposes total communications blackout during election (3/22/2016, CPJ)
- In Turkey and globally, internet shutdowns hurt people and harm human rights (3/16/2016, Access Now)
- Digital rights groups ask African Union, U.N. to take action on social media blackout in Uganda (2/23/2016, Access Now)
- GNI condemns Election Day shutdowns of social media in Uganda (2/18/2016, Global Network Initiative)
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Learn more
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- How to Characterize an Internet Shutdown (2/17/2016, Tim Sammut)
- KillSwitch Timeline in Pakistan (current, Bytes for All)
- Five years later, the internet shutdown that rocked Egypt (1/21/2016, Access Now)
- Security v Access: The Impact of Mobile Network Shutdowns. Case Study: Telenor Pakistan (9/28/2015, Institute for Business and Human Rights)
- Freedom Online Coalition: statement on restrictions on access to social media [PDF] (8/2014, Freedom Online Coalition)
- Practical Resources for the Management of Assemblies (3/2016, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association)
- The economic impact of shutting down Internet and mobile phone services in Egypt (2/4/2011, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development)
- OONI Explorer, a project which collects and processes network measurements with the aim of detecting network anomalies, such as censorship, surveillance, and traffic manipulation (current, Tor Project)
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