Internet Shutdowns

At the request of the Syrian Ministry of Education, the Internet in Syria was suspended on the morning of 3 June 2024, between 6:00 and 8:30 local time (+3 UTC) ahead of the second day of high school exams. According to Syrian Telecom, these shutdowns will occur daily through 13 June.

This year, the Internet shutdown schedule is accompanied by a mobile telecommunication shutdown schedule. For this day, the mobile telecommunications were not shut off.

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.

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.