26 | RISING REPRESSION MEETS GLOBAL RESISTANCE: INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN 2025 Africa Equatorial Guinea The government of Equatorial Guinea continues to cut off residents of Annobón, the country’s smallest island, where internet access has been unavailable since July 2024 following a brutal crackdown on protesters.146 The prolonged disruption has denied people access to information, disrupted essential services including banking, healthcare, and emergency response, and severely hindered the documentation of human rights violations. The shutdown has also imposed additional burdens on residents, forcing cross-border travel to access the internet or higher costs to maintain basic communication with family and pursue economic opportunities.147 Authorities in the country previously restricted access to the internet and Facebook during elections in 2017.148 Asia Pacific Myanmar Myanmar has overtaken India as the world’s leading perpetrator in total number of internet shutdowns for the second consecutive year with at least 95 incidents documented in 2025. Since the military junta seized power in 2021, internet shutdowns have become a core tool of repression, imposed across all 14 states or administrative regions and primarily impacting villages and townships in the midst of active conflict. The junta imposed the majority of these shutdowns in 2025 (76), with another eight perpetrators imposing the remaining 19. These disruptions have severely undermined emergency services and endangered lives. In March 2025, ongoing internet shutdowns severely hampered emergency and lifesaving rescue efforts following a deadly earthquake — the strongest in the country’s history — affecting at least 67 townships and killing more than 2,000 people.149 While civil society groups have strengthened efforts to detect, document, and report internet shutdowns and other digital repression in Myanmar, the true scale is likely higher due to ongoing conflict and severe constraints on information access. Breakdown of internet shutdowns in Myanmar during 20256 Perpetrator4 Legend: 4number of internet shutdowns 4Impacted country 76 5 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 146 Access Now (2024). #KeepItOn: Equatorial Guinea authorities must end internet shutdown and other human rights abuses in Annobón. https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/keepiton-equatorial-guinea-authorities-end-internet-shutdown-in-annobon/ 147 New York Post (2025). Equatorial Guinea cuts internet access to island after protests about construction. https://nypost.com/2025/09/14/world-news/equatorial-guinea-cuts-internet-access-to-island-after-protests-about-construction/ 148 Freedom House (2019). Equatorial Guinea: Freedom in the world 2018. https://freedomhouse.org/country/equatorial-guinea/freedom-world/2018/ 149 APC (2025). Joint statement: Myanmar must lift internet restrictions following devastating earthquake. https://www.apc.org/en/pubs/joint-statement-myanmar-must-lift-internet-restrictions-following-devastating-earthquake-1/