Internet Shutdowns: ‘Nothing to Do With National Security, Always Political’
SputnikNews.com
03.03.2017
Shutting down the internet may seem like an alien concept for people in some countries, but for those in the developing world it is a common and developing theme.
Internet shutdowns by governments are becoming more frequent and systematic. Access Now, a human rights group focused on an open and free internet, documented 56 internet shutdowns in 18 countries last year, a spike from the 15 shutdowns reported in 2015.
Shutdowns vary in execution, from limited blocks on certain social media sites to putting entire towns offline. One of the reasons for shutdowns named by governments is national security.
Julie Owono, head of the Africa desk at Internet Without Borders, told Sputnik that most internet shutdowns have nothing to do with security, but are more politically motivated. One such example is that of the failed coup in Turkey in 2016, after the event users in the country reported repeated blocks on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
“From a government point of view a protest is a national security threat but in reality and legally, many of the justifications given did not match the national security argument. In Cameroon for example there is an internet shutdown due to protests, the government want to violate the national security of the people for the sake of persevering their own security. The people are protesting over the vote and the government do not want to recount votes — so we have found that this has been done to preserve the government but not used in the interest of the people,” Ms. Owono told Sputnik.
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