SHRINKING DEMOCRACY, GROWING VIOLENCE 48 Iraqi officials ignored the public outcry against the use of shutdowns during exams, disrupting internet access on six occasions during academic exams in February, June, July, August (including platform blocks), and much of September.273 This resulted in 58 total exam periods where the internet was shut down, with seven affecting Kurdistan alone, eight impacting all states except Kurdistan, and 43 impacting the entire country. Iraq’s Ministry of Education persisted in requesting the shutdowns despite the Ministry of Communication’s initial commitment to ensure open and secure internet access throughout the exam period, and ultimately got its request fulfilled, failing the test for respecting human rights.274 Authorities in Syria disrupted internet access on two occasions during exams, while Algerian and Iranian authorities each perpetrated one exam shutdown. Syria, which has a long history of imposing examrelated shutdowns, enforced nationwide internet blackouts on June 25 and 26, imposing a three-anda-half-hour blackout each day.275 The government of Algeria flipped the kill switch for five consecutive days during national exams on June 11–15.276 And as we note above, Iranian authorities cut access for university exams in January, but officials in the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology were reportedly able to prevent additional disruptions during the July exam period.277 Jordan and Mauritania, which have imposed exam shutdowns in the past,278 seem to be departing from such restrictive measures and showing a commitment to finding alternatives that respect people’s rights. Access Now, the Internet Society, and SMEX began the #NoExamShutdown campaign in 2023 to encourage more of these countries to do the same, and in 2024, we will continue to advocate for an end to exam-related shutdowns across the MENA region and beyond.279` Platform blocks and other events In 2023, nine countries across MENA — Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — continued to block access to digital communications platforms that facilitate people’s access to information and discourse on national issues. Grindr, a social networking app for gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, is blocked in eight countries. Seven of these blocks have been ongoing for years (Iran, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, UAE) and were retroactively added to our STOP dataset in 2023.280 Authorities in Jordan began blocking access to Grindr for the first time, as one of their three shutdowns in 273 Access Now (2023). Open Letter: The Prime Minister of Iraq must commit to #KeepItOn at the upcoming cabinet meeting, and put an end to internet shutdowns during exams. https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/open-letteriraq-prime-minister-must-keepiton-during-exams/; SMEX (@SMEX). X post. 3:13 am. February 6, 2023. https://x.com/ SMEX/status/1622523800704221187; Cloudflare (@CloudflareRadar). X post. 7:23 am. Jun 15, 2023. https://x.com/ CloudflareRadar/status/1669319814869860352; Cloudflare (@CloudflareRadar). X post. 9:06 am. July 15, 2023. https://x.com/ CloudflareRadar/status/1680217252971401216; Cloudflare (@CloudflareRadar). X post. 9:35 pm. August 20, 2023. https://x. com/CloudflareRadar/status/1693451780963618945; OONI (2023). Iraq temporarily blocked Telegram. https://explorer.ooni. org/findings/64077907701; Cloudflare (@CloudflareRadar). X post. 9:10 pm. September 16, 2023. https://x.com/CloudflareRadar/ status/1703230002303476058 274 Iraqi News Agency (2023). Minister of Communications: We rejected a request to cut off internet service during ministerial exams. https://www.ina.iq/185179--.html; Iraq Ministry of Education (‫اﻟﱰﺑﻴﺔ‬ ‫وزارة‬ ‫)اﻟﻌﺮاﻗﻴﺔ‬. Facebook post. 9:31 am. May 29, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/Iraq.Ministry.of.Education/posts/ pfbid02vDYcpc8db8m2bgGkEvrfsCZGEoA4QkPLUG8A19Y6jqg5pckdB3qHs23VzLLBDDF2l 275 Dyn Research (2016). Syria goes to extremes to foil cheaters. https://web.archive.org/web/20161221030229/http:// research.dyn.com/2016/08/syria-goes-to-extremes-to-foil-cheaters/; Cloudflare Radar (@cloudflare). X post. 2:09 pm. June 25, 2023. https://x.com/CloudflareRadar/status/1672970318401421312; IODA (@IODA_live). X post. 12:48 pm. June 26, 2023. https://x.com/IODA_live/status/1673312245114195971 276 Cloudflare Radar (@cloudflareradar). X post. 12:26 pm. June 16, 2023. https://x.com/CloudflareRadar/ status/1669682739568693248; SMEX (2023). Internet shutdowns in Algeria: a blow to human rights and the national economy. https://smex.org/internet-shutdowns-in-algeria-a-blow-to-human-rights-and-the-national-economy/ 277 ZoomIT (2023). Ministry of Communications: Internet will not be interrupted for any test. https://www.zoomit.ir/techiran/405167-internet-outage-final-exam/ 278 See Media Foundation for West Africa (2019). Authorities Shut Internet during National Exams. https://www.mfwa.org/countryhighlights/mauritania-shuts-internet-during-national-exams/; Roya News (2021). Instant messaging apps to be blocked in schools during Tawjihi exams: TRC. https://en.royanews.tv/news/28968/2021-06-20 279 Supra note 51. 280 Supra note 70.