Internet Shutdowns

• Past

  National shutdown

  Internet services were interrupted for 3 hours, from 08:00 to 11:00 local time (UTC +2) on 19 June 2021, for the secondary school exams. Cloudflare observed the largest drop in mobile Internet access. Sudan’s public prosecutor ordered Internet service providers (ISPs) to shut down mobile Internet connections upon the request of the Ministry of Education. This is the second year Sudan has cut off Internet services to prevent students from leaking exam questions. The shutdown sparked public outcry as banking, health, electronic payment, and other services were disrupted during high transaction hours on Sudanese working days.  

  Sudan

  • Start 19 June 2021 08:00 UTC
  • End 19 June 2021 10:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 2 hours
• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 17 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 17 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes
• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 15 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 15 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes
• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 13 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 13 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes
• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 9 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 9 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes
• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 7 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 7 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes
• Past

  Service blocking

  Twitter

  From June 4, 2021 to January 13, 2022, the Nigerian government officially banned Twitter. The ban occurred after Twitter deleted tweets made by the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari. The ban was lifted in January 2022 after Twitter agreed to "establish an office in the country, pay taxes there, appoint a representative and 'act with a respectful acknowledgment of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history.'"

  Nigeria

  • Start 4 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 13 January 2022 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 223 days
• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 3 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 3 June 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes

May 2021

• Past

  National shutdown

  The shutdown affected all Leased Lines and ADSL customers. The Ministry of Education announced the shutdown ahead of time, and state-owned operator Syrian Telecom issued a notice that Internet service will be cut from 31 May to 22 June 2021, between 04:00 to 08:30 local time (UTC+3), noting that this may be extended until 10:30. The Syrian government has unplugged the Internet every year during student exams since 2016, after exam questions began appearing on social media. Yet there is growing evidence that shutdowns are an ineffective way to prevent cheating, as questions still get leaked in spite of an Internet blackout.  

  Syria

  • Start 31 May 2021 00:00 UTC
  • End 31 May 2021 00:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 0 minutes
• Past

  Regional shutdown

  Gaza

  Bombing in Gaza in May 2021 by the Israeli air force destroyed local Internet infrastructure and caused an large outage.

  Palestine, State of

  • Start 15 May 2021 12:15 UTC
  • End 25 May 2021 17:00 UTC
  • Total Duration 10 days, 4 hours