Countries Shutting Down the Internet 2024

The U.S. government hasn't ever authorized a nationwide internet shutdown. But there are other governments throughout the world that have shut down the internet in their countries for one reason or another.

More often than not, countries have chosen to shut down internet access to their residents during large protests, elections, and incidents involving social unrest. Let's take a look at several of the countries shutting down the internet in 2023 below.

India

Of all the countries shutting down the internet in 2023, India tends to do it the most. They cut off people from internet access 84 times in 2022 alone, and the country continues to shut down the internet in 2023, too.

Many of the self-imposed internet outages in India have been performed to stop the spread of so-called fake news. No countries shutting down the internet in 2023 come anywhere close to India in terms of how often they do it.

Ukraine

Under normal circumstances, Ukraine wouldn't appear on a list of the countries shutting down the internet in 2023. However, the country's ongoing war with Russia has led to numerous internet outages over the last year.

In 2022, there were 22 times when the internet was cut off in Ukraine. The country has worked hard to get it back up and running every time, but it may not be able to completely remedy this situation until the war with Russia ends.

Iran

Iran infamously shut down the internet in 2019 during widespread protests throughout the country. The Supreme National Security Council in Iran ordered the internet to stay off for a week and only gave residents access to the National Information Network during that time.

Iran has also kept on shutting off the internet in more recent years. The country was without the internet 18 times in 2022.

Other Countries Shutting Down the Internet in 2023

India, Ukraine, and Iran are the three countries shutting down the internet in 2023 the most. They're the only countries to reach double digits when it comes to internet shutdowns.

There are also other countries that experience regular internet shutdowns, though. Myanmar (7), Bangladesh (6), Jordan (4), Libya (4), Sudan (4), and Turkmenistan (4) were hit with multiple internet shutdowns in 2022. Ethiopia has also endured its fair share of shutdowns recently with some lasting for months and even years at a time.