INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN 2023 41 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Regional overview in 2023 4 3 4 shutdowns shutdowns shutdowns 1 2 4 country countries countries 2021 2022 2023 Cuba: 1 Brazil: 1 Suriname: 1 Venezuela: 1 Suriname joined the offender list for the first time in 2023 Cuba imposed a shutdown for the fourth year in a row In Latin America and the Caribbean, we documented four shutdowns in four countries in 2023 — the highest number of countries to impose shutdowns in the region in a single year on record. While the total is low compared to other regions, we are alarmed to see more countries disrupting access year after year and yet another new offender emerge. Since joining the offenders list in 2020, Cuba has imposed at least one shutdown every year, including in 2023. These disruptions have been part of an intensifying crackdown on dissent and freedom of assembly, which has included attacks on press freedom and tightening control of online spaces.216 In May 2023, hundreds of Cubans reported internet outages throughout the country after mass demonstrations erupted in the Guantanamo municipality of Caimanera with shouts of “freedom,” and protesters were met with police brutality.217 Suriname is the first country in the region to join the shame list as a new offender since Cuba in 2020. In February 2023, authorities responded to mass protests in the capital, Paramaribo, and calls for the president and vice president to resign by imposing a 12-hour curfew and disrupting access to social media platforms across the country.218 An International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue plan pushing for reduced spending led the government to take drastic economic measures, like removing subsidies on electricity and fuel.219 These policies made an already dire economic situation even worse for people suffering under extreme price hikes and currency devaluation in a country where the majority of the population live on a 216 See, e.g., Civicus Monitor (2023). Cuba: Government authorities crack down on activists and journalists during the G77+China Summit. https://monitor.civicus.org/explore/cuba-government-authorities-crack-down-on-activists-andjournalists-during-the-g77china-summit/; RSF (2023). New digital law tightens clampdown on press freedom in Cuba. https://rsf. org/en/new-digital-law-tightens-clampdown-press-freedom-cuba 217 Cloudflare Radar (@cloudflareradar). X post. 2:15 am. May 7, 2023. https://x.com/CloudflareRadar/ status/1655042548023402496; see also Erika Guevara Rosas (@ErikaGuevaraR). X post. 1:18 am. May 7, 2023. https://x.com/ erikaguevarar/status/1655019347151134727; Camila Acosta (@CamilaAcostaCU). X post. 3:24 am. May 7, 2023. https://x.com/ camilaacostacu/status/1655050974480723970 218 FranceInfo (2023). Suriname: looting, arrests and internet shutdowns on the sidelines of demonstrations against the high cost of living. https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/martinique/suriname-pillages-arrestations-et-coupure-d-internet-en-marge-demanifestations-contre-la-vie-chere-1367742.html 219 Ibid.