Past

National shutdown

Iraq experienced its third Internet shutdown on 24 June 2023, in a new series of exam-related shutdowns ordered by government authorities to curb cheating during high school exams period. Shutdowns are expected into next week. 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.

  • Total Duration 4 hours

Flag of Iraq Iraq

Population
45,074,049

Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Partly Free

View full country profile for Iraq

Local impact

Iraq experienced its third Internet shutdown on 24 June 2023, in a new series of exam-related shutdowns ordered by government authorities to curb cheating during high school exams period. Shutdowns are expected into next week. 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.

Other supporting information

Cloudflare Radar shows the shutdown on 24 June, the third in this series of exam-related shutdowns.

Chart from Cloudflare Radar showing the Internet shutdown in Iraq on 25 June.

IODA measurements show a similar drop to the previous shutdowns, beginning at 01:00 and ending at 05:30 (UTC).

Chart from IODA showing drop in BGP visibility and Google search

Social media