As unrest and violence spread across Kazakhstan last Sunday, authorities there blocked access to a number of social media sites, forcing thousands of local users to download special apps to mask their location and maintain access. Then, on January 5, the authorities completely blocked access to the Internet.
The consequences were severe. ATMs stopped working, along with many other business activities including Bitcoin mining. Kazakhstan is currently the world's second largest generator of cryptocurrency, and its value plummeted when this computing powerhouse went offline.
Since television channels in Kazakhstan broadcast only entertainment programs, most of the population of 19 million lost access to information.
A decade after the uprisings during the Arab Spring when citizens mobilized via social media to overthrow authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and conflicts erupted in Libya, Syria and Yemen, a growing number of governments are resorting to shutting down the Internet to limit discontent and conversation about what's going on. in times of crisis.
In Ethiopia, internet access has been blocked for the northern Tigray region since November 2020 when conflict erupted with the government in Addis Ababa. This has contributed to limiting coverage of the conflict, which is now witnessing drone strikes and the blocking of humanitarian aid deliveries.
In Myanmar, internet access was initially completely blocked after the military coup in February 2021. This followed the blocking of the sites of important social networks, especially Facebook, which had previously been used by protest organizers.
Other Asian and African countries are increasingly turning to shutting down the Internet in the first reaction to political protests and demonstrations. The leaking of exam questions was cited last year as a reason to justify internet shutdowns in several places, including Syria, Uganda and the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Authoritarian tide
As governments grapple with public anger fueled by rising living costs and discontent with sometimes visibly corrupt elites, these tactics are an instrument that uses brute force — different from the more sophisticated surveillance employed by China, which critics describe as intimidation, but it is part of the rising tide of authoritarianism.
Different states have adopted different tactics, and the scale of internet shutdowns varies. In Myanmar, a multi-day blockade was quickly replaced by 72 consecutive nighttime shutdowns. Pro-democracy activists believe that the goal was to obstruct the planning of protest activities, which usually took place during the night, while minimizing the economic consequences. Even so, monitoring company Top10VPN calculated that internet shutdowns cost Myanmar's economy $2,78 billion in 2021, mostly due to business disruptions.
Such shutdowns can put international telecommunications companies in unusual situations. In Myanmar, Norwegian operator Telenor issued a series of statements outlining the demands made by the country's new military junta following last year's coup. Sources in Myanmar told Reuters that authorities demanded details of users, including personal information.
Facebook and Twitter remain blocked across Myanmar, accessible only through virtual private networks (VPNs) that mask a user's location. Myanmar's military rulers continue to temporarily block internet and phone services for towns in several regions where they are now battling rival militias.
Billions lost
According to Top10VPN data, the economic cost of shutting down the internet worldwide was around $5,5 billion in 2021, which is 36 percent more than the year before. The group reported 15 major outages in 21 countries, ranging from direct shutdowns of the Internet - such as the one in Kazakhstan - to targeted blocking of major social networking platforms, most commonly Twitter and then Facebook.
Over 486 million people were affected by internet shutdowns in 2021, an 80 percent increase from 2020. Many of them are in India and Nigeria, and a growing number of African countries are adopting similar tactics.
For 18 months until February 2021, India restricted access across the predominantly Muslim region of Kashmir by limiting it to 2G speeds, thereby wreaking economic havoc. It also imposed a limited and near-total shutdown in parts of New Delhi in January 2021 following farmers' protests.
Nigeria has blocked access to Twitter since June 2021 in a dispute with the firm after President Muhammadu Buhari's tweet that it said violated the site's rules was deleted. Demand for VPN services has increased by over 1400 percent, prompting Nigeria's attorney general to threaten to prosecute those who continue to access Twitter that way.
Such activities are becoming more frequent. Sudan implemented several internet shutdowns last October and November during protests against a military coup, while Uganda shut down social networking platforms and messaging apps including WhatsApp during presidential elections. Burkina Faso shut down mobile internet access in late November following protests over the killing of seven civilians from a French military convoy passing through Chad.
For those who value freedom, this should be troubling. For most of this century, there was an assumption that the Internet would bring greater openness. Now it seems that even access to the Internet is something that is not taken for granted for a growing number of people.
Translated by: N. Bogetić
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