Between 2010 and 2012, the Arab Spring showed that the social networks could be a weapon revolution for citizens under the yoke of all kinds of dictatorships. However, the massive social protests of those years also made autocratic rulers aware that controlling access to Internet was to control the population. More than a decade later, this practice to limit the freedom of expression it is more and more frequent. Only in 2022, governments and other actors cut the grid at least 187 times in 35 countries, a new record, according to the annual report from the NGO Access Now.
“Closings were imposed during protestsactive conflicts, school exams, electionsperiods of political instability or high-profile events, such as religious holidays or visits by government officials, with the ultimate goal of imposing control and silencing voices,” the study reads. “Most of these closures also served as cover for that the perpetrators committed abuses against the human rights with impunity”.
The report, published on Tuesday, certifies that last year more countries than ever blocked web access. At least since 2016, the year in which this organization for the defense of digital rights began to study those interruptions. To do this, they have taken into account forced blackouts, the slowdown in internet speed and the suspension of both telephone networks such as the ban on social platforms.
India, digital censor
For the fifth consecutive year, India It is the country that has the highest number of blockades, with 84. The government of the ultranationalist Hindu Narendra Modi it has used control of the internet not only to more easily disseminate its political propaganda, but also to suppress dissent. Last January, without going any further, New Delhi blocked the digital broadcast of a BBC documentary critical of the prime minister, removing it from both Youtube like Twitter.
In recent years, Modi has been given new powers that allow the authorities to shut down the networks of telecommunications at times of protest, intercepting messages from citizens and prohibiting channels that go against the official line.
2022, black year
Beyond India, the largest digital censor, this practice extends throughout the world. Thus, the number of blockades of Internet access in countries other than India exceeded 100 for the first time. Nine countries (Bangladesh, India, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine) applied at least four cuts, another record. “During the political turmoil, the movements of protestthe violence and active conflict, millions of people in these nine countries suffered frequent and severe closures with worrying regularity,” the Access Now report reads.
With 22 blackouts, the second country on the list is Ukraine. However, those cases of disconnection were orchestrated by Russia within the framework of his invasion from the neighboring country. Throughout the last year of warthose of Vladimir Putin have launched attacks to deliberately destroy Ukrainian telecommunications infrastructure and cyber attacks as a destabilization strategy. Still, access to technology toe has allowed kyiv dodge these cuts and maintain the context between the Government, the army and the citizenry.
Iranwith 18 cuts, and Myanmar, with 7, occupy the third and fourth position on the list. The regime of the ayatollahs escalated its digital repression to try to stop the citizen protests that spread throughout the country after the death of Masha Amini, a 22-year-old girl who was beaten up by police for failing to fully cover her head with her veil. In the case of the old burmathe military regime has imposed prolonged network outages for long periods of up to 500 days to leave the resistance against the coup plotters in the dark.
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The other countries on the Access Now list are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Russia, Kazakhstan, Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, ChinaEthiopia, Iraq, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Somaliland, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and Yemen.
The extension of this practice has triggered the concern of United Nations, which has required governments not to opt for such a drastic path. Not only because of cutting off internet access, but because that can serve to silence greater atrocities. “It can be a great alarm signal of the deterioration of the situation of the human rights“said Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the UN in Geneva. “Closures are often associated with higher levels of insecurity and other restrictions.”