INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN 2023 2023, expanding the list of social media apps banned in the country, which includes TikTok and Clubhouse.281 The blocking of Grindr came as part of a wave of attacks — including calls to criminalize homosexuality by the country’s conservative parliamentarians — against the country’s LGBTQ+ community.282 In recent times, Jordan has seen a hike in the level of hate speech and threats against members of the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters on social media sites.283 Authorities in Jordan also continue to block VPNs, a practice that has been ongoing for years.284 Many widely used VPN services and servers remain inaccessible, and further restrictions have been imposed under Jordan's new cybercrime law passed in 2023. Article 12 of the law stipulates penalties for IP address circumvention, making it more risky for people to use tools that allow them to bypass blocking, such as VPNs, proxies, and Tor.285 This comes at a time when Jordan is blocking more websites, such as the satirical news website AlHudood, which has been blocked since June 2023.286 When southern and central Türkiye and northern and western Syria were hit by series of earthquakes on February 6, 2023, which killed over 55,000 people, authorities in Türkiye began blocking access to social 49 media platform X (formerly Twitter), thereby denying people access to critical information regarding relief or humanitarian assistance.287 In an unrelated incident, just a few months later, in the lead-up to Türkiye's 2023 national elections, authorities issued threats of throttling against platforms for non-compliance with content removal demands. X publicly disclosed that Turkish authorities singled it out as the only platform not complying with removal requests, influencing X’s decision to take action on the content.288 In September in Libya, access to the internet was disrupted for at least 42 hours following the flooding disaster in Derna, one of the cities hit hardest by floods that claimed at least 11,300 lives and displaced 43,000 others.289 Although the government said the internet disruption was a result of cut fiber optic cables, the shutdown occurred amid large protests demanding answers about the catastrophic flood and burst dams, and while authorities reportedly asked journalists to leave the city during these protests.290 Internet access was restored on September 19, following a wave of criticism against the government.291 The incident only underscores the value of the internet and digital platforms as a critical lifeline for people to access information during crises. 281 Ibid.; SMEX (2023). Beyond Jordan’s TikTok Ban. https://smex.org/beyond-jordans-tiktok-ban/; JOSA (2021). Blocking Clubhouse in Jordan: A Quick Analysis of Internet Censorship Methods in Use. https://www.josa.ngo/ar/blog/78. 282 Al-Monitor (2023). Jordan’s LGBTQ community faces increased attacks, including from Islamists. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/07/jordans-lgbtq-community-faces-increased-attacks-including-islamists 283 Ibid. 284 7iber (2021). About blocking of virtual private networks (VPN) in Jordan. https://www.7iber.com/ technology/%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A8%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8 %A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%A9-vpn/ 285 Supra note 73. Access Now (2023). 286 Middle East Eye (2023). Jordan blocks satirical news site AlHudood. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordan-blocks-satirical-news-site-alhudood 287 Al Jazeera (2023). Death toll climbs above 50,000 after Turkey, Syria earthquakes. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/25/death-toll-climbs-above-50000-after-turkey-syria-earthquakes; supra note 59. 288 X Global Government Affairs Team (@GlobalAffairs). X post. 3:29 pm. May 15, 2023. https://x.com/GlobalAffairs/ status/1658208072215437314; Reuters (2023). Twitter objects to Turkish court orders after pre-election warnings. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/twitter-objects-turkish-court-orders-after-pre-election-warnings-2023-05-16/ 289 France 24 (2023). UN says death toll at least 11,300 in Libya's flood-hit Derna. https://www.france24.com/en/livenews/20230917-aid-arrives-as-libya-copes-with-flooding-aftermath; Front Page (2023). Libya: Flood update Flash Update No.6 (21 September 2023) (as of 4pm local time). https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/libya/libya-flood-update-flash-updateno6-21-september-2023-4pm-local-time 290 Access Now (2023). Libya floods: people need reliable internet now. https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/libyafloods-internet/; BBC News (2023). Libya flood: Derna mayor's house burnt down in protests. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66849131; Elizia Volkmann (@EliziaVolkmann). X post. 11:45 am. September 19, 2023. https://x.com/EliziaVolkmann/status/1704099303168352621 291 The New York Times (2023). Residents see Signs of Crackdown on Dissent After Libya Floods. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/world/middleeast/libya-floods-derna-crackdown.html; LPTIC (@LPTIC). Facebook post. 7:32 am. September 19, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/LPTIC/posts/ pfbid02P4cqLPpKF4RCz4rzqNyCjZvEGp7Mvp19iu8pytStZ59t8H7YvZTfqdwpPJ7gFe13l