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.

  • 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 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.

Other supporting information

Cloudflare Radar measurements show the shutdown beginning around 01:00 UTC and resuming around 05:00 UTC on Tuesday, 13 June 2023.

Chart from Cloudflare Radar showing the Internet shutdown in Iraq on 13 June.

IODA measurements show the similar drop.

Chart from IODA showing measurements of Internet connectivity and the drop during the shutdown period.

Google's Transparency Report also shows the near-total drop in web searches from Iraq.

Chart from Google showing the drop in web searches coming from Iraq.