Content note: the following post contains references to violence, sexual assault, war crimes, and torture.
Not a single day of 2025 passed without at least one internet shutdown. Last year, people across the world experienced the highest number of deliberate blackouts ever recorded by the #KeepItOn coalition, at the hands of authorities persistent in cutting millions off during multiple conflicts, wars, and humanitarian crises, exacerbating the danger and harm to those most at risk.
Launching today, March 31, 2026, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s new report, Rising repression meets global resistance: Internet shutdowns in 2025, reveals that at least 313 shutdowns were implemented in 52 countries.
The latest findings reflect the years-long pattern of increasing internet shutdowns globally — reaching a new record high — spotlights the power of solidarity and resistance against the repression of human rights everywhere, and provides concrete recommendations for global actors to intervene.
Year after year, authorities seek the power to influence elections, silence and isolate people, and attack our rights with impunity behind the digital armor of deliberate internet shutdowns. Not one of the 365 days of 2025 passed without perpetrators wielding shutdowns to lock entire populations out of communication, education, information, democratic participation, and emergency services. While people are meeting this growing repression with increasing resistance, we demand accountability. This flagrant disregard for human rights will not be our new world order.Felicia Anthonio, #KeepItOn Global Campaign Manager at Access Now
Key findings include:
- Another record breaking year: there were at least 313 shutdowns in 52 countries, up from 304 shutdowns in 2024;
- The world’s leading offender: for the second year in a row, Myanmar faced the highest number of recorded shutdowns — at least 95;
- First-time offenders: Albania, Angola, Cambodia, Lithuania, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and the U.S. joined the shame list;
- Conflict as a trigger: for the third year, conflict was the lead trigger, with 125 conflict-related shutdowns across 14 countries — 40% of the global total;
- Concealing abuse: at least 70 shutdowns coincided with grave human rights abuses, such as murder, torture, rape, or apparent war crimes and atrocities, in 21 countries;
- A sharp increase in cutting alternative connectivity: perpetrators shut down Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet systems 14 times across seven countries, compared to four such shutdowns in 2024 — in Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tanzania, and Yemen;
- Internet shutdowns cover the majority of countries worldwide: people in 100 countries have now experienced a shutdown since Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition started tracking in 2016; and
- The good news: Bangladesh took steps toward outlawing shutdowns; South Sudanese authorities rescinded its social media ban after pushback; the International Criminal Courtrecognized the link between internet shutdowns and crimes against humanity; and civil society continued to speak out and bring shutdown cases to courts of law.
From Myanmar to Tanzania, authorities shut down the internet 313 times across 52 countries in 2025 — never before has the #KeepItOn coalition documented such alarming figures. We must join forces to push back against the normalizing of shutdowns as a tool for collective punishment, silencing, and repression. Everybody — from civil society to states and international actors — has the responsibility to step up and say: enough. Keep the world connected.Zach Rosson, #KeepItOn Global Data and Research Lead at Access Now
In 2025, shutdowns were implemented in: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen.
Read the full report, global snapshot, and shutdowns dashboard.