National shutdown
Internet Services
The Syrian government, through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Communications and Technology, implemented a nationwide internet shutdown on July 9, 2020, as part of a series of preventive measures during the National Baccalaureate Exams. This specific incident corresponds to the third major date in the official examination calendar released by the government, aimed at preventing the leakage of exam papers and ensuring the integrity of the testing process.
- Total Duration 4 hours
Syria
- Population
- 25,620,427
Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Not Free
Related documentation
The Syrian government continues its policy of implementing nationwide internet blackouts during the National Secondary Education Certificate exams. For the 2020 cycle, this disruption occurred on July 9, synchronized with the start of the examination period.
The timing of the shutdown typically begins around 4:00 AM local time (01:00 UTC) to secure the logistics of distributing physical exam papers, followed by a sustained blackout of all internet services—including ADSL and mobile data—until the exam sessions conclude at approximately 8:30 AM local time.
The schedule of the disruptions follows the Scientific and Literary streams schedule published by the Syrian Ministry of Education:
Other supporting information
ORACLE INTERNET INTELLIGENCE
CAIDA IODA
ORACLE INTERNET INTELLIGENCE – AS29256
CAIDA IODA – AS29256
