7
Shutdown triggers in 2023
Conflicts
Protests
Exams
Elections
Emerging
trigger in 2023:
74 shutdowns
in 9 countries
during conflicts
63 shutdowns
in 15 countries
during protests
12 shutdowns in
6 countries “to
prevent exam
cheating”
5 shutdowns in
5 countries tied
to elections
2023: 74
2023: 63
2023: 12
2023: 5
Natural
disasters
2022: 36
2022: 63
2022: 8
2022: 5
2021: 19
2021: 39
2021: 11
2021: 7
2020: 15
2020: 16
2020: 8
2020: 10
4 shutdowns
in 4 countries
during
natural
disasters
2019: 52
2019: 65
2019: 8
2019: 12
2018: 2
2018: 45
2018: 11
2018: 12
2017: 3
2017: 37
2017: 7
2017: 6
2016: 3
2016: 27
2016: 6
2016: 5
Shutdown trends in 2023
1.
Shutdowns continue to shroud grave human rights abuses and violence
51 shutdowns in 11 countries
coinciding with documented grave
human rights abuses ***
Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan,
Mauritania, Myanmar, Palestine, Russia,
Somaliland, Sudan, Ukraine
*** Grave human rights abuses include cases where there is evidence of violence, including murder, torture,
rape, or apparent war crimes by governments, militaries, and police or security forces.
2.
Authorities must refrain from normalizing platform blocks
53 blocks across 25 countries in 2023, up from 39 blocks across 29
countries in 2022
Grindr is the second-most blocked
messaging platform outside of India
after Facebook, impacting people in
12 countries and targeting LGBTQ+
spaces
China, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon,
Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Tanzania, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates