ASSESSMENTS

The Growing Power and Threat of Government-Imposed Internet Blackouts

Nov 21, 2019 | 10:00 GMT

During the latest protests, the government of Iran has shut off access to the internet in most of the country.

(MAXIMUMM/Shutterstock)

Highlights

  • The government of Iran has shut off access to the internet in most of the country amid recent protests, a tactic also used to control civil unrest in India, Ethiopia, Iraq and Sudan.
  • Such restrictions are aimed at preventing protesters from organizing, halting the spread of misinformation, quelling communal violence and even obstructing communications among coup plotters.
  • Governments are likely to continue to use internet blackouts for the foreseeable future, especially as they gain more control over internet and mobile networks.

Amid the recent bout of nationwide protests in Iran, government-enforced blackouts have taken more than 90 percent of the country's internet offline and blocked most Iranians from communicating with the outside world. The move has drawn substantial international media attention, and #Internet4Iran has been a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Tehran blocked the internet during protests in late 2017 and early 2018, but the scale of the current blackouts is unprecedented in Iran. Governments are likely to continue to use internet blackouts for the foreseeable future, especially as they gain more control over internet and mobile networks....

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