Algeria
The shutdown disrupted the operations of local businesses, including transport firms and several banks, with entrepreneurs lamenting the inconvenience it had caused.
Access to the Internet was disrupted amidst protests calling on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to vacate his office, a position he has held since 1999. Protesters are demanding that the 81-year-old leader withdraw from seeking a fifth term in the upcoming general elections.
Targeted shutdowns by the state-run Algerie Telecom were detected in demonstration zones such as Tizi Ouzou, and Bejaia, and some parts of the country’s capital Algiers.
This is not the first time Internet services were cut in the country. In 2016 and again in 2018, government blocked social media access for several days to try to curtail cheating during secondary school exams. Mobile and landline connections were also cut off for several hours in the same period. Exam answers had previously leaked on social networks.