Internet Shutdowns
Who Shuts Down the Internet the Most?
Based on 951 shutdowns we've tracked since 2018
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438 -
171 -
73 -
47 -
18 -
17 -
17 -
14 -
11 -
10
- Africa
- Americas
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania
Ongoing
13
ongoing shutdowns around the world
97
Internet shutdowns around the world since June 2025
13
countries have experienced a total or partial Internet shutdown since June 2025
31,211 hours
of Internet access have been lost by the the world’s population since June 2025, due to intentional disruptions.
Shutdowns
June 2023
951 shutdowns
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Past
National shutdown
Iraq is still experiencing its longest stretch without an Internet Shutdown. It is becoming customary to shutdown access to the Internet in the hours prior to school exams. This time with the start of high school exams. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Iraq
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 4 hours
-
Past
National shutdown
Iraq is experiencing its longest stretch without an Internet Shutdown this month following the eighth scheduled exam-related Internet shutdown in the early morning of 17 June. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Iraq
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 4 hours
-
Past
Service blocking
For the fifth day, and as students sat for Physics and Economics exams, Algeria shut down the Internet for the entire country during high school exams. A news report indicates that there will be two outages each day from 11 June through 15 June, a four hour outage in the morning and a three hour outage in the afternoon. In analyzing the data, it appears that the Algerian government is engaging in content blocking whereby the actual Internet connections remain active, but the Internet service providers are ordered to block certain sites, including social media networks and messaging sites. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion not the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating
Algeria
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 10 hours
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Past
National shutdown
Iraq has again experienced an exam-related Internet shutdown, the seventh such scheduled shut down by the government since 1 June 2023. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Iraq
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 4 hours
-
Past
Service blocking
News Media
For a fourth day, Algeria shut down the Internet for the country during high school exams. A news report indicates that there will be two outages each day from 11 June through 15 June, a four-hour outage in the morning and a three-hour outage in the afternoon. In analyzing the data, it appears that the Algerian government is engaging in content blocking where the actual Internet connections remain active, but the Internet service providers are ordered to block certain sites. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Algeria
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 10 hours
-
Past
Service blocking
For a third day, Algeria shut down the Internet for the country during high school exams. A news report indicates that there will be two outages each day from 11 June through 15 June, a four outage in the morning and a three hour outage in the afternoon. In analyzing the data, it appears that the Algerian government is engaging in content blocking where the actual Internet connections remain active, but the Internet service providers are ordered to block certain sites. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Algeria
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 10 hours
-
Past
National shutdown
Iraq has again experienced an exam-related Internet shutdown, the sixth such scheduled shutdown by the government since 1 June 2023. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Iraq
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 4 hours
-
Past
Service blocking
For a second day, Algeria shut down the Internet for the country during high school exams. A news report indicates that there will be two outages each day from 11 June through 15 June, a four outage in the morning and a three hour outage in the afternoon. In analyzing the data, it appears that the Algerian government is engaging in content blocking where the actual Internet connections remain active, but the Internet service providers are ordered to block certain sites. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Algeria
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 10 hours
-
Past
Service blocking
Today Algeria joined Iraq in shutting down the Internet for the country during high school exams. A news report indicates that there will be two outages each day from 11 June through 15 June, a four outage in the morning and a three hour outage in the afternoon. In analyzing the data, it appears that the Algerian government is engaging in content blocking where the actual Internet connections remain active, but the Internet service providers are ordered to block certain sites. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Algeria
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 10 hours
-
Past
National shutdown
Iraq has again experienced an exam-related Internet shutdown, the fifth such scheduled shutdown by the government since 1 June 2023. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse, Internet shutdowns cause great harm to a country’s economy and society and are in our opinion NOT the appropriate mechanism to cope with potential exam cheating.
Iraq
- Start
- End
- Total Duration 4 hours