New research has revealed that there have been 187 internet shutdowns in 2022, and this is a new record. In fact, a record number of countries implemented internet shut down as a result of political upheaval.
India has been identified as the “worst offender,” with at least 84 internet outages predicted in 2022.
187 Internet Shutdowns In 2022 – New Record Created
According to research conducted by the internet rights organisation Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition, there will be 187 shutdowns in 2022. These were implemented by governments in 35 countries, the most in a single year since the groups began tracking internet outages in 2016.
Protests, conflict, and allegations of human rights violations triggered the majority of the shutdowns, with a smaller number coinciding with school exams and elections.
According to the report’s findings related to India, the majority of these incidents occurred in the disputed regions of Jammu and Kashmir, both of which have long been gripped by political insecurity, though the practise has spread to other parts of the country.
Other repeat offenders include Iran, which shut down the internet 18 times in response to anti-regime protests, and Myanmar’s junta, which instituted seven blackouts.
Frequency of Shutdowns Increasing?
Russia’s military used missile strikes and cyber-attacks to cut off the internet in Ukraine 22 times, and it also attempted to “force occupied territories onto highly censored and surveilled Russian networks,” according to the report.
Additionally, Ethiopia’s government imposed a blackout on its rebellious Tigray region that lasted more than two years, according to Access Now and #KeepItOn, amid allegations of killings, rape, and ethnic cleansing. Tigray’s phone and mobile internet services were restored following the signing of a ceasefire agreement in November, but some areas remain cut off.
Felicia Anthonio from Access Now stated, “Governments wield internet shutdowns as weapons of control and shields of impunity. In 2022, under authoritarian regimes and in democracies, powermongers accelerated their use of these callous tactics, disrupting the internet to fuel their agendas of oppression – manipulating narratives, silencing voices, and ensuring cover for their own acts of violence and abuse.”
According to the report, internet outages peaked in 2019 with 213 blackouts (in 33 countries), before declining to 159 in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors of the report issue a warning that shutdowns are now becoming more frequent.
