It’s probably a testament to how important broadband is when governments shut down or threaten to shut down broadband access for political reasons. This blog was prompted by a news report that Ontario tore up a contract with Starlink as a result of the announced  U.S. tariffs against Canadian goods. Even just a few years ago, it was probably unimaginable that broadband would have been mentioned in any talks about trade between countries.

That announcement prompted me to look to see what other governments have been using broadband connectivity as a political tool. I found Internet shutdowns in 2024: a global overview by Surfshark. This report covers not only total shut downs, but also restrictions imposed by governments in response to political unrest, protests, or social issues.

There are a number of countries that have long-term restrictions on Internet access. Eritrea and North Korea have a nearly total Internet ban. Iran, Cuba, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia block social media platforms. The United Arab Emirate (UAE) has laws against online criticism of the government and arrests people for online content. China is famous for the Great Firewall of China, and closely watches Internet content. Egypt and Tunisia monitor online content and emails.

Some countries block specific apps. Russia banned Discord and Signal. Turkey blocked Discord after the company refused to share information with the government. This followed an incident where a man murdered two women, and users on Discord praised the killing. The U.S. almost joined this list with a threatened ban of TikTok.

Some Internet shutdowns are traditional and scheduled. For example, the Telegram messaging app is turned off every year in Kenya to prevent cheating during the tests for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. Pakistan, Senegal, and Mauritius restricted the Internet last year during elections.

Unfortunately, most other temporary Internet shutdowns are not so benign. India had the most Internet restrictions during the year with 23 incidents. Thirteen of the restrictions were to try to quell and restrict protests, like a farmers’ protest in Punjab. Ten were related to political turmoil, like violence in Saran after the polls closed.

Turkey blocks broadband four times during 2024. There was a total block of social media platforms for 24 hours following an attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries headquarters.

Bangladesh had a near-total shutdown of the Internet after student protests. There has been an ongoing block of WhatsApp and Facebook related to protests against the Prime Minister.

Mozambique had restrictions for the first time and shut down broadband after protests related to a disputed election.

Overall, there were slightly fewer incidents of government restrictions in 2024 than in 2023. In my mind, the shutdowns are evidence of the power of the Internet. It’s likely that governments that want to control their citizens will continue use Internet shutdowns.