SHRINKING DEMOCRACY, GROWING VIOLENCE 46 and impede the free flow of information in areas controlled by opposing factions.251 When fighting between the ruling SAF and paramilitary groups led by the RSF broke out in Khartoum on April 15, 2023, SAF authorities immediately ordered telecommunications providers to shut down their services nationwide.252 With hundreds dead and millions trapped in their homes in Khartoum running low on food and water amid the fighting, a tensely negotiated 72-hour ceasefire was set to begin the night of April 24.253 In the hours leading up to the ceasefire deadline, yet another nationwide blackout went into place across multiple providers.254 At the same time, in the city of El Geneina in West Darfur, RSF fighters began escalating attacks on civilians as SAF forces withdrew to their base, leaving the community to fend for themselves.255 This was the start of a monthslong reign of terror claiming at least 10,000 lives, with reports of mass killings, rampant sexual violence, forced labor, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity.256 During this period, fighting between RSF and SAF forces caused significant damage to telecommunications infrastructure, contributing to ongoing intermittent blackouts and overall degradation of connectivity.257 These disruptions severely limited people’s ability to access essential information and to communicate with the world about the crimes being perpetrated. Witness reports also point to a clear strategy by RSF fighters to cover up their attacks on civilians and to prevent documentation, including by 251 confiscating mobile devices during raids on people’s homes and at checkpoints where people were trying to flee the city.258 Military actors in Sudan have a long track record of committing heinous crimes against people amid internet blackouts — from the weeks-long shutdown during the infamous Khartoum massacre in June 2019 to at least four disruptions during the #June30March protests demanding return to civilian rule in 2022.259 People in Sudan have been subjected to internet shutdowns every year since 2018, and 2024 has proven no exception. Both the RSF and SAF have continued to weaponize internet shutdowns during the ongoing conflict, worsening the suffering of millions who were cut off from the world once again.260 Iran In 2023, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition recorded a surge in internet shutdowns in Iran, reaching 34 compared to 19 in 2022.261 Iran continued its oppressive tactics with internet shutdowns and platform blocking, a trend that intensified following protests responding to the tragic death of Mahsa (Jini) Amini in 2022.262 Iranian authorities use a range of methods to interfere with internet access, silence people, and stifle dissent, from shutting down the global internet to force people onto the highly Ayin network (2024). Sudan Conflict Monitor #10. https://3ayin.com/en/scm10/ 252 Reuters (2023). Sudanese telecom providers block internet services, MTN official says. https://www.reuters.com/article/ sudan-politics-internet/sudanese-telecoms-provider-mtn-blocks-internet-services-mtn-officials-say-idINS8N35N0D8/; see also Cloudflare (2023). Effects of the conflict in Sudan on Internet patterns. https://blog.cloudflare.com/sudan-armed-conflict-impact-on-the-internet-since-april-15-2023/ 253 Al Jazeera (2023). Sudan factions agree to 72-hour ceasefire as foreigners evacuated. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/24/us-says-sudan-factions-agree-to-ceasefire-as-foreigners-evacuated 254 Cloudflare Radar (@cloudflareradar). X post. 11:09 pm. April 23, 2023. https://x.com/CloudflareRadar/status/1650275825126629377 255 Reuters (2024). How Arab fighters carried out a rolling ethnic massacre in Sudan. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/sudan-politics-darfur/ 256 Reuters (2024). Ethnic killings in one Sudan city left up to 15,000 dead, UN report says. https://www.reuters.com/world/ africa/ethnic-killings-one-sudan-city-left-up-15000-dead-un-report-2024-01-19/; OHCHR (2024). UN experts alarmed by reported widespread use of rape and sexual violence against women and girls by RSF in Sudan. https://www.ohchr.org/en/pressreleases/2023/08/un-experts-alarmed-reported-widespread-use-rape-and-sexual-violence-against 257 See Dabanga Radio TV Online (2023). Communication problems in Darfur as clashes continue. https://www.dabangasudan. org/en/all-news/article/communication-problems-in-darfur-as-clashes-continue; Hamid Khalafallah (@HamidMrutada). X post. 7:45 am. April 24, 2023. https://x.com/HamidMurtada/status/1650405615498305543 258 Reuters (2023). The Slaughter of El Geneina. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/sudan-politics-darfur/ 259 Access Now (2023). #IAmTheSudanRevolution: There’s a direct link between internet shutdowns and human rights violations in Sudan. https://www.accessnow.org/iamthesudanrevolution-theres-a-direct-link-between-internet-shutdownsand-human-rights-violations-in-sudan/; Access Now (@accessnow). X post. 10:35 am. June 30, 2022. https://x.com/accessnow/status/1542456849802244097 260 See supra note 22; supra note 9. 261 Access Now (2023). Internet shutdowns in MENA in 2022: continued abuses and impunity. https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/keepiton-internet-shutdowns-2022-mena/ 262 Access Now (2023). The world must not forget Mahsa Amini. https://www.accessnow.org/the-world-must-not-forgetmahsa-amini