Internet shutdowns: Interrupting connectivity, endangering human rights
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Imagine, for a moment, you pick up your smartphone or power on your laptop, eager to check the latest updates from your social networks.
You try to connect and then...
Nothing. A blank screen. An error message. An internet blackout.
Now imagine this lack of connectivity persists for days, weeks, even months on end. Inconceivable for some, but the stark reality for many across the globe as the number of government-ordered internet shutdowns continues to rise.Â
Just what does this flagrant abuse of human rights mean for those affected?
In the Rohingya communities in crisis in Myanmar, a shutdown cuts off a vital lifeline to humanitarian aid and life-saving information. In Ethiopia, home to a growing tech scene known as Sheba Valley, it severs a link to business clients around the world, stealing the key to unlocking economic potential. In Zimbabwe, it costs the country at least $5.7 million USD per day in direct economic costs. And in Turkey, it prevents journalists from sharing information following terrorist attacks and standing as a check against the authoritarian government.Â
In this edition, we look at the surge of shutdowns, the mechanics behind the so-called "internet kill switch", and what we're doing as members of Access Now's #KeepItOn coalition to fight back.
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Shutdown Stats
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1 year, 3 months, 17 days — Length of time social media sites — including WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook — were recently blocked in Chad. President Idriss Deby lifted the ban on July 13, 2019 ( Quartz).
196 — Number of documented shutdowns in 2018. The shutdowns took place in 25 countries, with Asia and Africa the most affected regions ( Access Now).Â
$4.5 million USD — Cost to the Ethiopian government for each day of a shutdown. In June and July 2019, there have been several instances of nationwide blackouts ( CNN, NetBlocks).Â
67% — Percentage of documented shutdowns worldwide that took place in India in 2018, a total of 134 instances ( Access Now). Thus far in 2019, the country endured 65 shutdowns ( Software Freedom Law Center Internet Shutdown Tracker). Â
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Whether they are ordered in Ethiopia, Chad, Venezuela, or India, and whether they are justified as a measure to fight 'fake news' and hate speech or to stop cheating during exams, the facts remain the same: internet shutdowns violate human rights, put people in danger, and harm the economy.
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Sizing up the state of shutdowns
Access Now investigates the state of internet shutdowns around the world in 2018 in the #KeepItOn report, finding that as the number of shutdowns rises, governments double down on efforts to normalise their decision.
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Tech companies, ranked
When governments order telecoms companies to shut down their networks, the companies risk violating the users' human rights by complying. Ranking Digital Rights measures companies' transparency around internet shutdowns in its Corporate Responsiblity Index.
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Show me the money
The economic effects of internet shutdowns are considerable. But just how much does the decision to deploy the internet kill switch cost governments? The Cost of Shutdown Tool from Internet Society and NetBlocks has the answer.
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First person perspectives
What is is like to go over a year under total censorship of social media networks? Internet Sans Frontières and Access Now collected video testimonials detailing the social and economic impact of the prolonged shutdown in Chad.
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When a government orders internet service providers to shut down the internet, what actually happens? The process depends on whether the order targets certain websites or the internet as a whole.
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Blocking individual websites
Do not pass go — To block access to a particular website, internet service providers (ISPs) will update their border gateway protocol — the language these providers use to speak to one another — to mark the particular URL as an off-limits destination. Users attempting to reach these sites would see error messages such as "server not found."
This site is poison — The ISP's domain name server (DNS) translates URLs into an Internet IP address. Deleting the URL (say, Facebook.com) from the DNS will mean users can no longer access the site. Or, the ISP could choose to route the URL to a different IP address, resulting in a different destination for the user. These methods are known as domain name poisoning.
Taking it slow — To reduce access in a more subtle way, ISPs can engage in bandwidth throttling — an intentional slowing of connection speed that makes websites too slow to use effectively. This can be done for particular websites or the network as a whole.
Shutting down the entire internet
The kill switch — ISPs can be ordered to shut down their services entirely, which completely prevents users from acessing any data.
To do this, providers can stop advertising their server destinations to the rest of the internet via the border gateway protocol. This will block access to the internet on all platforms.
Sources: Access Now, Wired, Ars Technica, BBC News, The Conversation, Lifewire
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Keep all of the internet available, all of the time
Here at the Web Foundation, we've brought together governments, companies, civil society, and web users to build a roadmap for a web that serves humanity and is a public good for everyone, everywhere. The Contract for the Web will outline the role each one of us must play to protect the open web.
One of government's key roles? Ensuring no one is denied their right to full internet access.
The first working draft of the contract outlines ways governments can fulfil this duty by establishing legal and regulatory frameworks to minimise government-triggered internet shutdowns.
Give your feedback on the contract draft on our public survey. |
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