Internet Shutdowns

At the request of the Syrian Ministry of Education, the Internet in Syria was suspended on the morning of 6 August 2024, between 7:00 and 10:15 local time (+3 UTC) ahead of the second round of high school exams as per announcement by Syria Telecom. The company issued a schedule for the Internet and telecommunication services shutdown.

Along with this shutdown event, mobile telecommunication is also scheduled to be shut off between 9:00 and 10:15 local time (+3 UTC). The first shutdown event in this series happened on 25 July.

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.

Since 2019, Syria has ordered multiple Internet shutdowns, all related to exams.

The above announcement by Syrian Telecom (via AlFurat News) notes that shutdowns will occur on nine days from 25 July to 8 August and are being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Education.