It’s official, 2024 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns. From people’s movements to contentious elections, as political escalations continued to make headlines in Africa, authorities increasingly defaulted to internet shutdowns to disempower and disconnect people.
Launching today, February 24, 2025, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s new report, Emboldened offenders, endangered communities: internet shutdowns in 2024, exposes how authorities imposed at least 296 internet shutdowns in 54 countries, causing chaos across borders, exacerbating trauma during conflict, and fracturing the lives of millions of people around the globe. The findings reveal that 21 shutdowns impacted 15 countries in Africa — the highest number of shutdowns ever recorded in a single year for the region.
For the second year in a row, authorities and warring parties wielded an unprecedented number of internet shutdowns as a weapon of war and a tool for collective punishment — hurling communities into digital darkness, and concealing grave human rights abuses. As internet access becomes consistently weaponized, restricted, and precarious, we are seeing pervasive patterns of crushing censorship and an urgent need for greater accountability. No single stakeholder can end internet shutdowns alone. The time to act is now.Felicia Anthonio, #KeepItOn Campaign Manager at Access Now
Key regional findings:
- The new offenders: Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritius shut down the internet for the first time in 2024, while hacker group Anonymous Sudan claimed responsibility for cyberattacks that disconnected people in Chad;
- The triggers: protests were the leading trigger for shutdowns in 2024, with authorities in nine countries imposing 12 shutdowns during protests and political instability. This was followed by shutdowns to control information (4) and election-related shutdowns (3);
- The entrenched offenders: despite the Ethiopian government’s claims about restoring internet services, people in Tigray and Amhara continued to suffer from the effects of shutdowns beginning in 2020 and 2023 respectively, with connectivity well below pre-conflict levels. Uganda continued to block access to Facebook for the fourth year in a row;
- The emerging offenders: authorities in Kenya blocked Telegram during national exams for the second year in a row, and shut down the internet amidst protests that also impacted connectivity in Burundi and Rwanda. In Mozambique, authorities imposed curfew-style shutdowns and platform blockings following protests, while in Equatorial Guinea, authorities imposed a shutdown in July 2024 in Annobón that continues to persist; and
- The positives: The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) passed resolution 580 0f 2024 calling on member states to ensure open and secure internet access before, during, and after elections and refrain from shutting down the internet during democratic processes. Authorities in Mauritius also rescinded an order to block social media platforms following pressure from civil society organisations.
The right to freedom of expression, access to information, and peaceful assembly are at risk now more than ever. As civil society, we will continue to hold authorities to account and raise the alarm on human rights abuses that fester in the darkness of internet shutdowns. During protests, elections, exams, and conflicts, authorities must respect human rights and #KeepItOn.Bridget Andere, Senior Policy Analyst at Access Now
In 2024, shutdowns were imposed across Africa in: Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Access the full report, global snapshot, and shutdowns dashboard.