According to Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition, authorities deliberately shut down the internet at least 182 times across 34 countries, up from least 159 shutdowns in 29 countries in 2020.
"Authorities shut down the internet to shut down democracy," says Felicia Anthonio, #KeepItOn Campaign Manager at Access Now.
"These vicious weapons of digital dictatorship were wielded at least 182 times in 2021, disrupting not only everyday life, but attacking critical moments in a nation’s epoch — during protests, wars, and elections. That’s 182 times a leader decided to deliberately silence a people instead of empowering them to speak."
India carried out 106 shutdowns in 2021, making it the world’s biggest offender for the fourth consecutive year. Myanmar was next, with 15 disruptions, followed by Sudan and Iran with five shutdowns each. The longest shutdown lasted more than three years - from June 2016 to December 2021 - in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas , and there were shutdowns lasting more than 500 days in Myanmar's Rakhine State, India's Jammu and Kashmir region and Tigray in Ethiopia.
The reasons for shut-downs were many, with a number of authorities disrupting or entirely cutting connectivity during protests. Increasingly, internet shutdowns were initiated in active conflict zones, including in Gaza Strip, Myanmar, and Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
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