Cuba was the only country in Latin America where the government has intentionally shut down the Internetin 2021, for Avoid citizen protests and articulations.
“Authorities responded to growing protests and calls for reform by shutting down the internet and blocking platforms,” says a report by Access Now, an international organization dedicated to activism in defense of the open and free internet.
The report prepared for the #KeepItOn campaign -which brings together more than 70 organizations focused on cleaning up Internet outages- most of those outages on the island relate to the massive anti-government protests on July 11th.
“In July, as Cubans flooded the streets demanding access to food, water, medicines and COVID-19 vaccines, the government imposed a complete shutdown of the network. Even after internet access was restored, the authorities blocked WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal,” the document reads.
Additionally, Access Now claims that the government blocked the words “VPN” and “freedom” via SMS when Cubans tried to bypass the government’s siege of the network through VPN (Virtual Private Network).
VPN services have been working intermittently on the island since October 2020, the text adds.
“The Cuban government has withdrawn SIM cards from certain individuals. This leaves those affected – mainly activists and journalists – completely isolated, since ETECSA is the only Internet provider in Cuba,” concludes the section of the report dedicated to Cuba.
According to independent reports, the government has shut down the internet to prevent anything related to the peaceful July 11 protests from being broadcast, at least on social media 60 points of national geography.
Complaints are common independent journalists and human rights activists about disruptions to its internet and phone services, which are managed by the country’s sole provider, telecoms monopoly ETECSA.
Cubans also do not have access to many independent press media What, Not only are they blocked, but they are constantly being criminalized and slandered by the official press.
Access Now clarifies that it’s also possible that Internet outages happened in Paraguay in 2021, but they don’t have enough evidence to include that in their report.
The report comes to the worrying conclusion that there has been an increase in internet disruptions by governments, primarily aimed at stifling citizen dissent and articulation.
Last year, authorities in 34 countries deliberately shut down the internet at least 182 times.
In addition to Cuba, Burkina Faso, Chad, Eswatini, Iran, Jordan, Myanmar, Niger, Pakistan and Sudan, among others, have shut down the internet in response to protest movements. In the Gaza Strip, in Myanmar and in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, there were breakdowns during armed conflicts.
Chad, Republic of Congo, Iran, Niger, Uganda and Zambia all shut down the internet during elections.
On the other hand, countries like Benin, Iraq and Gambia curiously suspended service during national events like school exams.