UPDATED:June 26, 2025

Internet shutdown tracker

Undemocratic governments can disrupt their countries’ network connection and social media access as a means to silence the public in times of political unrest. The Internet Shutdown Tracker unmasks the countries guilty of taking these measures according to internet watchdog NetBlocks and other media and NGO reports. The study includes cases that occurred from 2015 onwards.

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6,136,248,939
Total users deprived of internet access to date
84
Total countries that have disrupted access to date

Where has the internet been restricted?

Regional statistics

We have sorted internet shutdowns (including both network connection disruptions and social media/messaging app disruptions) by region for easier viewing.

Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
South America
Oceania
Africa is the second most intensive region by internet shutdowns. 8 out of 10 Africans have been hit by internet shutdowns since 2015.
Cases of disruptions since 2015: 139
Out of which due to:
70
Protests
31
Elections
37
Other political turmoil
1
Internet law
 
No. of countries
% of the continent
No evidence
16
29.6%
Any type of disruption in the past
38
70.4%
Currently restricting social media/messaging apps
6
11.1%
Social media/messaging apps disrupted in the past
27
50%
Network connection disrupted in the past
31
57.4%
Affected people
1,277,175,462
83.6%

Find a country profile

Search for a country to find out if it has faced internet shutdowns

Regional ranking by disruptions: 13th in Asia

Cases of disruptions since 2015: 4

Out of which due to:

1

Protests

N/A

Elections

3

Other political turmoil

N/A

Internet law

Currently restricting social media platforms

Facebook

2009, July

X (formerly Twitter)

2009, July

Youtube

2009, July

Instagram

2016, September

Telegram

2016, July

Whatsapp

2017, September

Insights

More than 2/3 of all Asian countries have had limited access to the internet in the past for reasons ranging from total Western social media shutdowns to restricting YouTube because of leaked sexual footage involving local politicians.
38 countries in Africa have experienced some type of internet disruption in the past, especially amid political turmoil or elections. 1/2 of African countries have disrupted access to internet services because of elections.
While South America doesn’t have many recorded cases of internet restrictions, Venezuela has disrupted social media at least 31 times in 2019. It happened every time acting president Juan Guaido was airing a speech online.
India remains the largest internet shutdown offender, with some of its internet disruptions lasting for months in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

Recent news

Kenya
Kenya
June 25, 2025
Live metrics show restrictions to messaging platform Telegram in #Kenya are now in effect; the measure comes as authorities issue a ban on live media coverage of the June 25 anniversary protests, amid rising concerns over the risk of a wider internet shutdown
Source
Panama
Panama
June 21, 2025
Metrics show the internet blackout in the Bocas del Toro Province of #Panama is in its third day, with emergency calls also impacted; the measure, imposed in response to banana workers' protests, continues to limit economic activity and freedom of expression
Source
Iran
Iran
June 18, 2025
Live network data show #Iran is now in the midst of a near-total national internet blackout; the incident follows a series of earlier partial disruptions and comes amid escalating military tensions with Israel after days of back-and-forth missile strikes
Source
Iran
Iran
June 17, 2025
Analysis of telemetry shows a significant reduction in internet traffic in #Iran; the incident comes amid an escalating conflict with Israel and is likely to limit the public's ability to access information at a critical time
Source