Internet Shutdowns

• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Kordestan

  Internet services were suspended in Kurdistan Province in Iran since the beginning of the #IranProtest from 17/12/2022 to 21/12/2022. Internet shutdowns during protests or civil unrest impact the ability of citizens to get accurate information from government sources when they need it most. It also becomes harder for citizens to contact family members and friends in other parts of the country, or in other countries.

  Iran

  • Start 17 December 2022 21:00 UTC
  • End 21 December 2022 04:45 UTC
  • Total Duration 3 days, 7 hours

October 2022

• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Kordestan

  Authorities shut down the Internet throughout Kurdish-majority cities and towns in Iran’s western provinces following further anti-government protests. The shutdown lasted 22 hours.Iranians have faced a wave of Internet disruptions, service blocking and total shutdowns since September 2022, following the death of a young woman in police custody which sparked protests across the country. Internet shutdowns during protests or civil unrest impact the ability of citizens to get accurate information from government sources when they need it most. It also becomes harder for citizens to contact family members and friends in other parts of the country, or in other countries.

  Iran

  • Start 26 October 2022 07:00 UTC
  • End 27 October 2022 05:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 22 hours

September 2022

• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Sistan and Baluchestan

  Iran

  • Start 30 September 2022 12:00 UTC
  • End 10 October 2022 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 9 days, 12 hours
• Past

  National shutdown

  Internet services were suspended in Wake of Hurricane Ian in Cuba. The government shut down the Internet on 30 September 2022. Internet shutdowns during protests or civil unrest impact the ability of citizens to get accurate information from government sources when they need it most. It also becomes harder for citizens to contact family members and friends in other parts of the country, or in other countries.

  Cuba

  • Start 30 September 2022 00:30 UTC
  • End 30 September 2022 08:30 UTC
  • Total Duration 8 hours
• Past

  National shutdown

  Iranians experienced multiple Internet disruptions over a 12-day period in September 2022, following the death of a young woman in police custody, which sparked protests across the country. Starting on 21 September, wide-scale disruptions were observed on mobile Internet providers’ networks with shutdowns occurring daily from noon to well into the evening.Access to a range of services and applications were blocked, including communication services WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Skype, and Instagram. Access to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store was limited in an attempt to hinder people from downloading Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps, which can help users circumvent blocking.The Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), which monitors global Internet censorship, reported an increase in incidents of blocking of DNS over HTTPS (DoH). DoH enables Internet users to bypass Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and government-controlled domain name services, helping them to avoid simple forms of blocking so they can stay online. Iranian officials stated that access to the Internet would be restricted until protests ceased.

  Iran

  • Start 21 September 2022 15:50 UTC
  • End 3 October 2022 20:30 UTC
  • Total Duration 12 days, 4 hours
• Ongoing

  Service blocking

  DoH, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Play Store, Apple App Store, Skype, LinkedIn

  Multiple Internet services have been blocked in Iran since 2022, including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, X, and YouTube.

  Iran

  • Start 20 September 2022 00:00 UTC
  • End Ongoing
  • Total Duration 1014 days, 14 hours
• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Kordestan

  Internet services in Iran's northwestern Kurdish region were suspended as the government tried to quell protests following the death of a young woman in police custody. This three hour regional outage on Monday, 19 September comes after disrupted services in Tehran and other cities since protests began on 16 September. Internet shutdowns during protests or civil unrest impact the ability of citizens to get accurate information from government sources when they need it most. It also becomes harder for citizens to contact family members and friends in other parts of the country, or in other countries. See all shutdown events related to these protests.

  Iran

  • Start 19 September 2022 16:20 UTC
  • End 19 September 2022 19:35 UTC
  • Total Duration 3 hours

August 2022

• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Assam

  Assam State authorities ordered mobile Internet services to be suspended across 27 of the state's 35 districts on 28 August 2022, between 10:00 and 12:00 and 14:00 and 16:00 (local time) to avoid malpractice during the written examination for Class-III government post. These orders followed similar orders from the 21 August for the written examination for Grade-IV government post. These orders come despite a petition in March 2022 to the West Bengal High Court challenging a government move to suspend internet services to control cheating in the Madhyamaik Examinations. from which the court acknowledged but stayed the order. According to a report, the court disposed the matter by saying, “The Rule of 2017 are required to be complied with and the Supreme Court has already laid down the law which is binding under Article 141 of the Constitution, hence, we express hope that while issuing any such order in future, the State authorities will duly comply with the same.” According to the Internet Freedom Foundation, this was an important judgement by the High Court because it would be useful when persuading states to follow the law on internet suspension. Some report that some mobile Internet service providers suspended Internet services for the day.

  India

  • Start 28 August 2022 10:00 UTC
  • End 28 August 2022 16:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 6 hours
• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Assam

  Assam State authorities ordered mobile Internet services to be suspended across 25 of the state's 35 districts on 21 August 2022, between 10:00 and 12:00 and 14:00 and 16:00 (local time) to avoid malpractice during the written examination for Class-IV government post. Similar orders have been given for Class-III government post exams on Sunday, 28 August. These orders come despite a petition in March 2022 to the West Bengal High Court challenging a government move to suspend internet services to control cheating in the Madhyamaik Examinations. from which the court acknowledged but stayed the order. According to a report, the court disposed the matter by saying, “The Rule of 2017 are required to be complied with and the Supreme Court has already laid down the law which is binding under Article 141 of the Constitution, hence, we express hope that while issuing any such order in future, the State authorities will duly comply with the same.” According to the Internet Freedom Foundation, this was an important judgement by the High Court because it would be useful when persuading states to follow the law on internet suspension.  

  India

  • Start 21 August 2022 10:00 UTC
  • End 21 August 2022 16:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 6 hours
• Past

  National shutdown

  Internet disruptions were observed in Sierra Leone over two days amid anti-government protests in the country’s capital, Freetown. Cloudflare documented Internet disruptions between 12:00 and 14:00 local time (UTC) on 10 August, and between 01:00 and 07:30 local time on 11 August. Local sources believe the shutdown was orchestrated by the government as a means to quell dissent. Zoodlabs, which managers the state-owned optical fiber company, Sierra Leone Cable, claimed that the outage was due to “emergency technical maintenance.”

  Sierra Leone

  • Start 11 August 2022 00:00 UTC
  • End 11 August 2022 08:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 8 hours