Service Blocking, Bangladesh, 4 August

Bangladesh

4 August - 5 August, 2024 (2 days)

Local Impact

OONI data shows high anomalies in connecting to social media and messaging services in Bangladesh. This new data, combined with local reports, suggest that these services are being blocked again less than four days after they returned to normal.

This new service-blocking event follows reports of a new Internet shutdown event in the country amidst renewed protests against the current government.

[Update 6 Aug]

OONI data shows that connectivity to social media and messaging services started to return to normal on 5 August, with low or no anomalies recorded on 6 August.

Cause Documentation

No cause documentation has been made apparent thus far.

Data and Analysis

[Update 6 August]

OONI data (below) shows fewer anomalies in Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter services on 5 August and hardly any on 6 August. Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegraph data share a similar pattern.

Time series stacked column chart showing anomalies connecting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube on 4 August. — **Chart:** OONI Probe testing of twitter.com, `www.facebook.com, www.instagram.com, and www.youtube.com` in Bangladesh between 31 July to 6 August 2024. Source: OONI.

[Update 5 August]

OONI data suggests that Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter services have begun to be blocked again after services resumed normal operations on 31 July.

Time series stacked column chart showing anomalies connecting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube since 4 August. — **Chart:** OONI Probe testing of twitter.com, `www.facebook.com, www.instagram.com, and www.youtube.com` in Bangladesh between 31 July to 4 August 2024. Source: OONI.

Testing since shows that most measurements for www.facebook.com for across all networks tested in Bangladesh have resulted in anomalies (signals of potential censorship) and has come to include other Meta services, including Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as other social media (X), messenging (Signal and Telegram) and video sharing (YouTube) services.

Time series stacked column chart showing anomalies connecting to Facebook Messenger since 4 August. — **Chart:** OONI Probe testing of Facebook Messenger in Bangladesh between 31 July to 4 August 2024. Source: OONI.

Time series stacked column chart showing anomalies connecting to WhatsApp since 4 August. — **Chart:** OONI Probe testing of WhatsApp in Bangladesh between 31 July to 4 August 2024. Source: OONI.

Time series stacked column chart showing an increase in anomalies connecting to Telegram since 4 August. — **Chart:** OONI Probe testing of Telegram in Bangladesh between 31 July to 4 August 2024. Source: OONI.

Time series stacked column chart showing and increase in anomalies connecting to Signal since 4 August — **Chart:** OONI Probe testing of Signal in Bangladesh between 31 July to 4 August 2024. Source: OONI.

Conversations

Mobile internet, along with popular social media and messaging platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, are once again blocked in Bangladesh amid escalating violence that has cost dozens of lives.#Bangladesh #Facebook #Whatsapp #Communication #NewsUpdates https://t.co/NkvB02Z6XZ

— The Daily Star (@dailystarnews) August 5, 2024

Internet Shutdowns

Bangladesh