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The governments of 35 countries they have disabled internet access 187 times in 2022. This is the highest number of outages ever recordedaim at repress pro-democracy movements, demonstrations for human rights, or imposed by external forces in the context of armed conflicts. This was revealed by the report of the digital rights organization Access now.
Governments around the world block access to the internet as acontrol weapon, repression and to prevent the abuse of power and violence committed by the police forces can be documented. In 2022, these tactics have seen a rapid increase in both authoritarian regimes and democracies.
India in the lead
The report indicates theIndia as the country where the most outages have occurred, most of them in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, both long gripped by political instability, but the practice has also been used in other parts of the country for a total of 84 times.
In second place is the Russiawhich used rocket and cyber attacks to disrupt internet access in Ukraine for 22 times during the invasion year. Furthermore, it has also forced the occupied territories to use only the state-controlled Russian network, censoring and blocking access to other services.
Third place goes toIranwhere Islamic authorities blocked internet access for ben 18 times during 2022, in conjunction with the protests against the regime that swept the country after the assassination of Mahsa Amini, killed by the police for not wearing the veil correctly.
The other attacks
Below is the coup military government of the Myanmar with 7 breaks, the bangladesh with 6, the Jordanthe Libya and the Turkmenistan with 4 each. While the longest lockdown ever imposed was recorded in the Tigray region of Ethiopiawhere the authorities shut down the internet for more than two years while they were at war with rebels from the breakaway zone.
According to the report the authorities have blocked access to the internet for cover acts of violence and human rights violations, as well as to make it more difficult to organize protests. However, the only positive note, the surveys have shown how governments blocking the internet during elections have decreasedrising from 12 in 2021 to just 5 in 2022. But the trend could change in 2023, particularly in Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe, where governments have already blocked the internet in the past.
“2022 was a human rights catastrophe – Access Now analyst Zach Rosson said. The damage caused by the shutdown of the internet last year is incalculable, but could be avoided in 2023 and beyond. As an international community, we have the power and momentum to not only stop this global trend, but to end it forever.”
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