Yesterday, authorities in Dhaka, Bangladesh shut down some internet services for several hours, including blocking access to Facebook, Whatsapp, and Viber. Service was later restored, but key services remain offline. The latest shutdown in Dhaka shows worrying backsliding to the use of internet shutdowns as a blunt instrument to deal with threats to national security. It also solidifies the South Asia region as a hub for these intentional disruptions, given that Pakistan and the Indian provinces of Gujarat and Kashmir have also chosen to disrupt networks in the past few months. Worse, it looks as though lawmakers around the world are seeing threats to national security as a justification for undermining the open internet. …