Conclusion and Recommendations The network disruptions we have described in this white paper are historically notable in their scope and duration, and their devastating impact on our interviewees and others in their communities have been severe. If we revisit the three-part test set out under ICCPR s.19(3) and explicated above, it becomes immediately clear that both of these internet shutdowns violate international human rights standards. The test requires that shutdowns have a legal basis, a legitimate aim, and be proportionate to that aim in their impact on human rights. While the laws of Bangladesh and Myanmar may permit such interruptions of communications technology, they are broadly worded permitting the authorities tremendous amount of discretion. However, even if the first requirement of legality is met, the case of the shutdowns falls apart on the second and third factors. Myanmar has justified the internet shutdown it has imposed in the eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states by citing “disturbances” and “the use of the internet to coordinate illegal activities”, without additional specificity. If this were a sufficient reason to suspend people’s access to communications networks, literally every government, at every level, around the world, would have reason to do so, as periodic disturbances and illegal acts are part of human life. Furthermore, as we have illustrated in the foregoing section, even were the Myanmar government’s aim legitimate, the effects of the shutdown it has imposed have been gravely disproportionate to the justification it has offered. The rights of education, health, free expression and access to information, and security, among others, have been repeatedly violated. The restoration of 2G services is woefully inadequate, as our interviews demonstrated; at the current level of service, many voice calls, not to mention other services, are inaccessible. For these reasons, the internet shutdown in Myanmar should be lifted, and 3G and 4G service restored to the affected area, immediately. Our findings about the significant consequences of the shutdown on individuals’ ability to access news sources and increased exposure to disinformation only serve to underline this urgent call. We welcome the Bangladesh government’s decision to restore internet services to the refugee camps, following significant international pressure. However, recent weeks have seen significant unrest in Cox’s Bazar and the surrounding camps, as concerns about smuggling of the drug Yaba proliferate there as elsewhere in Asia. Since the original shutdown order followed widespread demonstrations in the camps, we caution Bangladesh against again resorting to the blunt, and human rights violating, instrument of a general internet shutdown to combat these more recent clashes in the camps. 38