internet shutdown

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Iraqis shout slogans as security forces form a human barrier during ongoing protests in the southern city of Basra on August 5, 2018. Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire. (AFP/Haidar Mohammed Ali)

Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests

Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, the local press…

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Police sit in a vehicle in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Kinshasa, on February 25, 2018. Amid protests called by the Catholic Church, the DRC Telecommunications Ministry repeatedly orders internet and SMS shutdowns. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

DRC authorities cut access to internet and SMS ahead of protests

On December 30, 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Telecommunications Minister, Emery Okundji, ordered the country’s telecommunications providers to shut internet and SMS services across the country, according to a media report and the local press freedom group L’Observatoire de la liberté de la Presse en Afrique, (the Observatory of Press Freedom in Africa or…

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Commuters in Mumbai use their mobile phones as they wait at a bus stop with a telecom advertisement on July 10. The majority of India's internet users connect via their mobile devices. India recently adopted a rule that allows the government to temporarily shut down internet and telecommunications services in the event of an emergency. (Reuters/Shailesh Andrade)

India issues sweeping rule on internet shut-offs

New Delhi, August 31, 2017–Indian authorities should stop arbitrarily blocking the internet, and refrain from issuing regulations that give legal backing to frequent internet shutdowns in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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DRC halts Internet access and cellphone services amid protests

New York, January 22, 2015–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday shut down Internet access and SMS service for mobile phones throughout the country after nationwide demonstrations led to deadly clashes with police, according to news reports.

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Syria must restore Internet access immediately

New York, November 29, 2012 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Internet and cell phone shutdown in Syria today which disconnects Syrians from the world as they endure conflict.

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Libya’s disordered Internet

Craig Labowitz at Arbor has been sifting through the evidence of how countries in the Middle East have been blocking and throttling the Internet in the last week. His analysis indicates that while both Bahrain and Yemen had periods of slowed or impaired access, only Libya seems to have taken the drastic step of shutting off the…

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What the Internet loses from Egypt’s disappearance

Last night at 20:54 UTC, Noor Group, the only remaining Internet service provider in Egypt with a consumer broadband service, depeered with the rest of the Internet. There are now only 12 Egyptian networks connected to the Net, none of which appear to be offering public connections.

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Watching Egypt disappear from the Internet

My colleague at CPJ, Mohamed Abdel Dayem, was the first to mail me. “Just a second ago,” he wrote, “about 10 contacts of mine all disappeared off instant messaging in unison. That cannot be a coincidence.”

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Journalist Raihana Maqbool reporting in Kashmir. (Aliya Bashir)

Kashmiri journalist Raihana Maqbool on reporting on COVID-19 amid ongoing restrictions

Journalists in Jammu and Kashmir have spent the past eight months navigating an intense crackdown by Indian authorities in the region, including unprecedented restrictions on communications and the longest internet shutdown in a democracy. Now, they have the added challenge on trying to report on the COVID-19 pandemic. India has instituted a strict 21-day national…

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Residents stand outside an automated teller machine in Khartoum, Sudan, on November 8, 2018. Authorities in December declared a state of emergency in several cities due to anti-inflation protests. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Sudan must stop trying to censor newspapers, websites

Washington D.C, December 21, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Sudanese authorities to stop trying to stifle news coverage of this week’s widespread anti-government protests. Internet service in Sudan, including access to social media websites, was disrupted today, according to Access Now and NetBlocks, two organizations that track internet shutdowns. Yesterday, the local…

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