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New Delhi: A 2026 report brought out by the #KeepItOn campaign, titled  “Rising repression meets global resistance: Internet shutdowns in 2025,” and authored by Zach Rosson and Felicia Anthonio, chronicles the dismaying rise in incidents of internet crackdowns worldwide – conflict and protests acting as dominant triggers – revealing a pattern of egregious misuse of power by perpetrators to silence dissent, control public narrative, inflict collective punishment, and protract human suffering by isolating populations and disrupting lives.

The #KeepItOn campaign was launched by Access Now in 2016 to mobilise people, communities, and civil society actors globally to fight against internet shutdowns. Here are ten key points to note about internet shutdowns and heightening repression in 2025:

1. A year of persisting disconnection

In 2025, internet blackouts were not individual events but consistent occurrences. Every single day of the year saw at least one internet shutdown in some part of the world. Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition recorded 313 shutdowns across 52 countries, topping the already abysmal numbers of 2024 (304) and 2023 (289). 75 shutdowns in 33 countries continued from 2025 into 2026, raising concerns about perpetrators’ persevering attempts at keeping entire populations in the dark and permanently blocking communications platforms. Additionally, the number of countries where shutdowns occurred has exponentially escalated over the last decade, growing from 28 in 2016 to 52 in 2025, with an addition of seven first-time offenders in the previous year (Albania, Angola, Cambodia, Lithuania, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and the United States of America).

#KeepItOn shutdown data dashboard overview, Photo: Access Now.

2. Asia-Pacific driving more than half of the global numbers

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 195 shutdowns across 11 countries, accounting for a majority of the total shutdowns imposed in 2025. As per the report, people in Myanmar lived through the highest number of deliberate shutdowns – no less than 95 – overtaking India for the second consecutive year. Ever since the 2021 coup, military in Myanmar has weaponsised shutdowns to stifle public opinion, supress dissent, and isolate people in the middle of active conflict, leading to loss of lives and severe harm to civilians.

The junta was responsible for a large fraction of shutdowns in last year (76), while the remaining 19 were imposed by eight external perpetrators. The report claims that the shutdowns acutely undermined rescue and emergency efforts following a devastating earthquake in March 2025. Testimonies documenting the draconian shutdowns under Myanmar’s military regime paint a dire picture of diminishing freedom of expression and access to information, reinforced by growing arrests, VPN restrictions, and invasive digital surveillance.

Authoritarian censorship practices in Pakistan contributed to at least 20 internet crackdowns in 2025 (a slight decrease from the 22 incidents reported in 2024). According to the report, the Pakistani government has implemented internet blackouts every year since 2016, with substantial spikes in 2024 and 2025. Most of these shutdowns........

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