National shutdown
At the request of the Syrian Ministry of Education, the Internet in Syria was suspended on the morning of 26 May 2024, between 6:00 and 11:00 local time (+3 UTC) ahead of the first day of high school exams. According to Syrian Telecom, these shutdowns will occur daily through 13 June. The #KeepItOn coalition, which the Internet Society is a member, recently urged Syrian and other authorities to abstain from implementing Internet shutdowns during exams, noting the lack of evidence demonstrating their impact on exam cheating, the economic cost of shutdowns on countries, and their violation of human rights. Syria ordered 11 Internet shutdowns in 2023, all related to exams.
- Total Duration 5 hours
Syria
- Population
- 23,594,623
Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Not Free
Local impact
At the request of the Syrian Ministry of Education, the Internet in Syria was suspended on the morning of 26 May 2024, between 6:00 and 11:00 local time (+3 UTC) ahead of the first day of high school exams. According to Syrian Telecom, these shutdowns will occur daily through 13 June. The #KeepItOn coalition, which the Internet Society is a member, recently urged Syrian and other authorities to abstain from implementing Internet shutdowns during exams, noting the lack of evidence demonstrating their impact on exam cheating, the economic cost of shutdowns on countries, and their violation of human rights. Syria ordered 11 Internet shutdowns in 2023, all related to exams.
Related documentation
The above announcement by Syrian Telekom (via Facebook) notes that shutdowns will occur daily from 26 May to 13 June and are being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Education.
Other supporting information
Cloudflare Radar, Google Transparency Report, and IODA recorded drops in Internet traffic and Google Search usage on 26 May 2024 from 3:00 UTC (6:00 local time) to 8:00 UTC (11:00 local time).
Social media
Similar to previous years, Syrian Telecom has announced daily exam-related nationwide #Internet shutdowns through June 16. The first occurred today at 0300-0800 UTC (0600-1100 local). Monitor the traffic impact at https://t.co/cLZ26lcTbS Announcement: https://t.co/9eweC5mEr1 pic.twitter.com/hnU98jzwwH — Cloudflare Radar (@CloudflareRadar) May 26, 2024
In #Syria, tens of thousands of high school #students head to their exam centers in the morning... a lot of effort and effort on the part of our students... with an even greater effort by the families in these very difficult economic circumstances. https://t.co/dX0zESM4wO — Dayoub SY 🇸🇾 (@am_dayoub) May 26, 2024
⭕ #Notice The #Internet will be cut off tomorrow morning for five hours, from 6 to 11, and #communications will be cut off from 8 to 9:30 due to secondary school #exams in #Syria. Good luck!— Dayoub SY 🇸🇾 (@am_dayoub) May 25, 2024