Fifteen African countries shut down their citizens’ internet access a total of 36 times in 2025. The shutdowns were often in response to political unrest, national exams or armed conflict, according to a report by internet advocacy groups #KeepItOn Coalition and Access Now.
Tanzania led the list, blocking internet access eight times during the year, including a five-day shutdown around elections in late October during which government forces cracked down on protesters, according to the report, titled “Rising Repression Meets Global Resistance.”
Internal conflict led the shutdown list for the third year in a row, according to the report. In those cases, officials used power over the telecommunications network to suppress information.
“This alarming multi-year trend highlights a landscape of conflict where perpetrators are acting with impunity while regularly cutting off internet access to conceal war crimes and atrocities and terrorize populations,” the analysts wrote.
In years past, governments could shut down the internet by turning it off at the source, be that an undersea cable or similar ground-based junction. In 2025, however, authorities confronted a different challenge: satellites. Low-earth orbit communication networks such as Starlink provide people with an alternative to accessing the internet using conventional landline or mobile telecommunications systems.
Governments have responded by jamming Starlink’s signal or banning its use in parts of the country. Equatorial Guinea, for example, has banned the unauthorized use of satellite internet services and equipment and demanded that Starlink suspend its service to the country.
The ban targeted Annobón Island, Equatorial Guinea’s smallest and most distant province, where residents are protesting the government and seeking independence. The island is separated from the rest of Equatorial Guinea by the nation of São Tomé and Principe.
The government of Chad shut down Starlink in two displaced-persons camps that are populated by Sudanese citizens who fled the conflict in their country.
“Starlink was the only available internet service for the camps, so the shutdown further isolated people from communication and disrupted the delivery of humanitarian aid,” the report noted.
After the three-day shutdown at the Abu Tanqi and Maji camps, authorities demanded access fees that had not been required before. Camp associations paid the fees of $180 for 40 devices at Abu Tanqi and $80 for 20 devices at Maji, according to the Darfur Network for Human Rights.
“Communication is more than a convenience — it is a lifeline for refugees navigating the challenges of displacement,” the Darfur Network wrote in a statement after access was restored.
The 3-year-old war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led to three nationwide internet shutdowns in 2025 as each side sought to control the narrative surrounding the conflict. After blocking mobile internet access during national school exams in July, Sudanese authorities imposed a separate national blockade on WhatsApp voice and video calls based on national security issues. The block cut off the civilian population from the outside world, according to the report.
In October, the RSF used Chinese-made drones and sophisticated jamming equipment to block Starlink and mobile phone-based internet service in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, ahead of an attack that finally broke the government’s hold on the city. In the communication blackout that followed, witnesses reported that RSF fighters rampaged through the city conducting summary executions and other crimes.
Despite the growing number of shutdowns in 2025, advocates for free speech and internet access succeeded in getting courts to intervene. The Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice ruled that Senegal’s 2023 internet shutdown was illegal after it was challenged.
In Tanzania, the East African Court of Justice challenged a five-day shutdown around elections in late October to prevent future such actions. The challengers argued that the shutdown caused “far-reaching” economic and social impacts across the country, including disrupting online banking and health services.
Ultimately, internet shutdowns create an environment that slows reporting and action on human rights abuses, #KeepItOn Coalition analysts noted.
“Shutdowns enable perpetrators to conceal violence, evade accountability, and deprive people of their rights, leading investigators to consider shutdowns as part of inquiries into grave international crimes,” they wrote.