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.”
- Total Duration 8 hours
Sierra Leone
- Population
- 8,642,022
- UN Classification
-
- Least Developed Country
Local impact
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.”
Other supporting information
IODA
Google Transparency Report
Cloudflare Radar
Social media
Significant #Internet disruption observed in #SierraLeone 🇸🇱, starting just after 1200 UTC.@CloudflareRadar shows a complete loss of traffic from the country.
— Cloudflare Radar (@CloudflareRadar) August 10, 2022
Likely related to protests in #Freetown: https://t.co/MPDQmVe469
https://t.co/qrwXiljmYD pic.twitter.com/GWFJJfdpNL
Yesterday, authorities in Sierra Leone shut down the internet during an anti-government protest in Freetown.
— Access Now (@accessnow) August 11, 2022
This isn't the first time that authorities implement #InternetShutdowns to stifle free expression, but it must be the last: https://t.co/YXreIZs8ar #KeepItOn