16 EMBOLDENED OFFENDERS, ENDANGERED COMMUNITIES IV. Shutdown impact stories from 2024 Access to the internet is woven into the fabric of people’s lives in countless ways, and shutdowns denying people that access have far-reaching impacts, including immediate harm to individuals’ safety, long-term impacts on communities’ economic stability, and so much more. The following stories are direct accounts from individuals who experienced internet shutdowns in 2024, anonymized for their safety. I rely on the internet for nearly everything in my daily life, especially as I care for my paralyzed husband, who needs constant attention and medical assistance. When the shutdowns happened, I couldn’t contact doctors, arrange for nurses, or even get urgent help if something went wrong. My children live abroad, and the money they send me is what keeps us afloat. But without internet access, money transfers are delayed, making it difficult for me to pay for medicine, food, or the nurses who help me care for my husband. During times of political unrest, the streets become dangerous, and information spreads mostly online. Without internet access, I have no way to stay informed about what’s happening. This isolation disrupts everything — our caregiving routines, our finances, and even our sense of safety. I can only plan and organize when the internet returns, leaving our lives at the mercy of these shutdowns. Retired professor Venezuela testimony collected in January 2025 M y story began when I was displaced along with my family from the north of Gaza to Rafah. My husband stayed behind in Gaza City. Five months have gone by, my son and I are still stuck in the same place, and my husband is somewhere else. During the first two weeks of displacement, I could still contact my husband once in a while and make sure he was okay. However, everything changed when the internet went down in Northern Gaza. We lived in a state of fear for more than a month and a half. We had no news of my husband until he managed to regain access to the internet using an Israeli SIM card. He told us about how he was displaced and escaped death. To this day, we’re still in a state of worry because of the constant internet outages. I struggled to do my job as a journalist and eventually stopped working due to the internet shutdown. I faced financial difficulties as the war intensified and prices increased. I never imagined that a blackout in the Gaza Strip would last for months, nor that this suffering would persist without any resolution. Journalist Gaza Strip, Palestine testimony collected in February 2024