Internet Shutdowns
Who Shuts Down the Internet the Most?
Based on 912 shutdowns we've tracked since 2018
-
423 -
160 -
73 -
37 -
18 -
17 -
17 -
14 -
11 -
10
- Africa
- Americas
- Asia
- Europe
- Oceania
Ongoing
12
ongoing shutdowns around the world
97
Internet shutdowns around the world since January 2025
15
countries have experienced a total or partial Internet shutdown since January 2025
Since January 2025, the world’s population has lost a total of
23,599 hours
of access to the Internet due to intentional disruptions.
Over the past 12 months, we estimate that
US $84,380,346
has been lost in combined GDP across all countries that have experienced Internet shutdowns
Shutdowns
June 2023
912 shutdowns
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Past
National shutdown
Iraq experienced its second Internet shutdown in as many days. The shutdown was ordered by government authorities to curb cheating during high school exams. Shutdowns are expected daily from 21-27 June 2023. As we have repeatedly written about here on Pulse how 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 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
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