Causes and Frequency of Internet Shutdowns

• In Event: Poster Session: Information Technology and Politics

Abstract

Rights on the internet are being circumscribed by democracies and illiberal regimes alike and norms about privacy, speech, and the press are being stretched to their limit. For instance, current events in the US reflect the debates about the responsibility of social media platforms to prevent the spread of fake news and their role in political advertising. Additionally, the developments of the Chinese social credit system are taking concerns over privacy and the use of Big Data to new heights.

While literature on the internet and human rights largely center on censorship, privacy concerns, and freedom of the press, internet shutdowns have become more frequent. The literature is scant, relying on a handful of case studies (e.g. Measham 2011, Ang, Tekwani, and Wang 2012, Okunoye et al. 2018, Wagner 2018, Ayalew 2019). While a partial database of internet shutdowns is available through the NGO Access Now, it is incomplete. Dating only to 2017, shutdowns have been occurring since at least 2009. Throughout this decade, have internet shutdowns’ justifications and durations remained steady over time, or have they changed in meaningful ways? Are governments’ justifications for shutdowns reasonable given a political context, or are they pretexts used to limit democratic norms like association, speech, and the press?

The gap calls for a comprehensive database and analysis. This project is an exploratory study that will collect information on government-initiated internet shutdowns dating from 2009 and explore their frequency, duration, and justification alongside the government’s regime-type. It will construct a database by collecting official government announcements, news reports, and NGO reports. Regression analyses are anticipated to reveal patterns between internet shutdowns and challenges to government power—protests, elections, and the like.

I anticipate that internet shutdowns’ justifications have proliferated and that their durations are unpredictable, sometimes acknowledging pressure from human rights NGOs but being little affected by it. Additionally, India has been a case that exemplifies how internet shutdowns are illustrative of democratic backslides that will likely be reproduced in less visible cases. Internet shutdowns should be used a barometer at a time where the value and the power of democratic norms are in question.

Author

• Heather L. Katz, Southwestern Oklahoma State University