Shoot Out the Lights

It's election day and you go to check the news. You open your computer, but nothing loads. You text your friends; the message comes back undelivered. Your country has imposed an internet shutdown. 

According to one estimate, 213 internet shutdowns occurred in 2019, often on or around election day. There is no single "kill switch," says Alp Toker, the head of NetBlocks, an NGO that monitors internet shutdowns. Instead governments often pressure telecommunications companies to restrict access to certain sites, or to slow the internet so much that it is no longer usable. Governments also target specific social media carriers through shutdowns. In April, Facebook agreed to censor anti-governments posts in Vietnam after the country ordered the internet slowed. Toker worries that these shutdowns are also used to cover up evidence of mass killings. During a five-day internet shutdown in Iran last year, the government killed at least 300 people. 

The information below was compiled by NetBlocks.

Over the course of 61 hours during the presidential election in Belarus, the internet was unusable. Social media and news sites could not be reached. Cell phones could no longer access the internet. A government official claimed this was meant to block cyber-attacks. 

Access to the internet was severely reduced in Zimbabwe in July; the blackouts coincided with planned protests. 

Twitter, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp were targeted and restricted during protests in Mali. 

Burundians could not access social media or messenger in the day leading up to the country's presidential election. Willy Nyamitwe, Ambassador Extraordinary and Senior Advisor to President Pierre Nkurunziza, said in a tweet "Contrary to rumors, the internet has not been cut off in Burundi." 

Venezuela’s state-run internet provider ABA CANTV restricted access to social media during that country's National Assembly leadership vote. The restriction lasted two and a half hours. 

Guinea temporarily blocked social media in advance of that country's elections. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp were particularly affected. 

This July, Somalia's parliament voted to remove prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire. For about 30 hours following, the Internet slowed to some 30% of national connectivity. Journalists could not report on the proceedings.