The Sound of the Silenced: Inside the ten-year global fight to keep the internet on

Felicia Anthonio first encountered the impact of internet shutdowns in 2017.

<![CDATA[ <article> <p>Felicia Anthonio first encountered the impact of internet shutdowns in 2017. While working as an intern tracking press freedom violations, she was prevented from verifying information on the ground or contacting people in the area when disruptions were imposed across Anglophone Cameroon.</p><p>Certain stories struck her particularly hard. "Most of the young technologists who were building their careers in this particular region had to leave the country," Anthonio told TechRadar. </p><p>Almost a decade later, Anthonio serves as the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/vpn/a-vpn-for-keepiton-how-tech-can-mitigate-internet-shutdowns">#KeepItOn </a>global campaign manager at digital rights organization Access Now. </p><p>To mark the 10th anniversary of the coalition's work, the team has launched the <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/sound-of-silenced-keepiton-shutdown-stories/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">"Sound of the Silenced" initiative</a>. It features eight firsthand accounts from people across the globe, illustrating how shutdowns isolate communities and endanger lives.</p><p>From a teacher in Gaza left without news of her family after a bombing, to an activist in Myanmar forced to travel by motorbike just to find signal and call for help during an airstrike — the campaign highlights the devastating, multifaceted ways internet shutdowns harm communities around the world. </p><p>TechRadar spoke with Anthonio to look back at the coalition's decade of work and explore what the years ahead may have in store.</p><a href="https://x.wayin.com/display/container/dc/efe848be-588a-4e20-8711-6e02de64b315/details"><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1200px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:26.17%;"><img id="Z7QHFc4GHoMhdps5XmntoC" name="LNT-masthead" alt="Leave No Trace logo" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Z7QHFc4GHoMhdps5XmntoC.png" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1200" height="314" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Future)</span></figcaption></figure></a><p><strong>NEW</strong>: <a href="https://x.wayin.com/display/container/dc/efe848be-588a-4e20-8711-6e02de64b315/details" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><strong>Leave No Trace</strong></a> — A weekly newsletter on digital privacy and online surveillance.</p><p>Leave No Trace investigates the companies and governments putting our digital freedom at risk — and the people fighting back.</p><p>📩 <a href="https://x.wayin.com/display/container/dc/efe848be-588a-4e20-8711-6e02de64b315/details">Subscribe now</a> to get every edition delivered to your inbox every Friday, launching this September.</p><h2 id="defining-an-39-internet-shutdown-39-how-the-movement-started">Defining an 'internet shutdown' — how the movement started</h2><p>The #KeepItOn coalition’s first priority was establishing a definition for the worrying trend of governments deliberately disrupting citizens' internet access. </p><p>Before the campaign launched, human rights advocates had struggled to categorize these state actions, even as politicians realized their strategic power.</p><p>The<a href="https://thenextweb.com/news/a-history-of-internet-shutdowns-in-africa-and-their-impact-on-human-rights" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> first recorded shutdown occurred in Guinea </a>in 2007, ordered by the president under the guise of "national security" to suppress protests over economic hardship.</p><p>Two years later, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jun/15/iran-jamming-technology-tv-radio-internet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Iran adopted the same playbook</a> to crush Green Movement protests following disputed elections in June. Then, in 2011, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jan/28/egypt-cuts-off-internet-access" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Egypt pulled the plug</a> to suppress widespread protests against Hosni Mubarak’s regime.</p><p>Throughout these events, there were neither coordinated efforts to fight them nor a clear definition of what constituted an internet shutdown. </p><p>Activists knew this had to change.</p><div class="see-more see-more--clipped"><figure><blockquote class="twitter-tweet hawk-ignore" data-lang="en" cite="https://twitter.com/cantworkitout/status/2089627128983625997"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For people living through conflict, protests, and political crises, an internet shutdown can mean life-threatening risk. Our new special shares the real stories of people affected by shutdowns around the world.Explore: https://t.co/7DWqSjmY8K pic.twitter.com/6QvCom0Ei5<a href="https://twitter.com/cantworkitout/status/2089627128983625997">August 18, 2026</a></p></blockquote></figure><div class="see-more__filter"></div></div><p>In March 2016, at Access Now’s annual RightsCon conference in Silicon Valley, the organization brought together technologists, activists, and policymakers to draft the first official definition of an internet shutdown.</p><p>"An internet shutdown is an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information," reads <a href="https://www.rightscon.org/cms/assets/uploads/2016/07/RC16OutcomesReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">the official definition</a>. </p><p>The #KeepItOn campaign was officially born.</p><h2 id="global-recognition-and-legal-victories">Global recognition and legal victories</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1920px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="ET4SS32mh2U2uZa9hHPS75" name="RightsCon25.KeepItOnPB" alt="Panels at RightsCon 2025 during a press briefing about the latest Access Now report of internet shutdowns" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ET4SS32mh2U2uZa9hHPS75.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1920" height="1080" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Future)</span></figcaption></figure><p>Since its inception, the #KeepItOn coalition has secured key diplomatic victories.</p><p>In July 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a <a href="https://rfom.osce.org/fom/250656" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">landmark resolution denouncing internet shutdowns</a> as direct violations of human rights — a commitment reinforced later that year by the <a href="https://achpr.au.int/en/adopted-resolutions/362-resolution-right-freedom-information-and-expression-internet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">African Commission on Human and Peoples' Right</a>s.</p><p>These early victories laid the groundwork for a broader shift in how global institutions view digital blackouts. Crucially, the coalition's standardized definition of internet shutdowns and its <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/guide/shutdown-tracker-optimization-project/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP) database</a> have been adopted by UN special rapporteurs, academic researchers, and major human rights groups to track violations, Anthonio explains.</p><p>Over the years, advocacy has translated into norm-shifting action. In 2025, lawmakers in Bangladesh <a href="https://tob.news/internet-shutdown-banned-in-proposed-telecom-act/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">proposed a formal ban on shutdowns</a>, while the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2025-12/2025-cyber-eng.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">International Criminal Court (ICC)</a> formally recognized the link between deliberate internet disruptions and crimes against humanity.</p><p>When diplomatic pressure has proven insufficient, the coalition has turned to strategic litigation to take governments to court — and won.</p><p>Notable victories include landmark rulings from the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, which declared government-imposed internet shutdowns illegal in <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/internet-shutdowns-in-togo-illegal/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Togo</a>, <a href="https://cipesa.org/2025/06/will-the-ecowas-judgment-on-senegal-redefine-digital-rights-in-francophone-africa/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Senegal</a>, <a href="https://www.mediadefence.org/news/ecowas-court-condemns-internet-shutdown-in-guinea/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Guinea</a>, and <a href="https://www.mediadefence.org/news/ecowas-nigeria-twitter-blocking/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nigeria</a>.</p><p>Campaigners have also harnessed "preventative diplomacy" to protect civic space by pushing governments to publicly commit to keeping the internet on — a tactic that appeared to pay off during <a href="https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/keepiton-zambia-internet-access-upcoming-elections/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Zambia's recent elections</a>.</p><p>Perhaps most importantly, the group has expanded into a global coalition of over 370 local and international organizations spanning 106 countries, making it the "leading network fighting against internet shutdown worldwide," Antonio told TechRadar. .</p><h2 id="why-internet-shutdowns-are-becoming-more-frequent-and-how-to-fight-back">Why internet shutdowns are becoming more frequent — and how to fight back</h2><p>Despite these impressive international achievements, internet shutdowns show no sign of slowing down. Quite the opposite: incidents continue to rise year after year.</p><p>In fact, 2025 was the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/2025-was-the-worst-year-on-record-for-internet-shutdowns-as-censors-move-to-more-targeted-blocks" target="_blank">worst year on record for internet shutdowns</a>, with Access Now recording at least one active blackout somewhere in the world every single day. In total, the coalition has documented more than 2,100 shutdowns across 100 countries since launching the campaign in 2016.</p><p>What explains this gap between growing international condemnation and increasingly aggressive state tactics? According to Anthonio, several factors are at play.</p><p>First, international frameworks are largely non-binding — meaning they lack immediate punitive consequences for states that violate digital rights. </p><p>Governments have also refined their tactics, shifting from total blackouts to targeted blocks on specific social media platforms and messaging apps — a less costly and often more politically palatable intervention for authorities. </p><p>But the coalition isn't backing down. "Real advocacy can be painstakingly slow. But as long as governments continue to violate human rights, we aren't also giving up, and we won't rest," Anthonio said. </p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1024px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="ji5q5LEbkXwmbhvpgHgPqK" name="A VPN runs on a mobile phone placed on a laptop keyboard" alt="A VPN runs on a mobile phone placed on a laptop keyboard" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ji5q5LEbkXwmbhvpgHgPqK.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1024" height="576" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Getty Images)</span></figcaption></figure><p>At the same time, the global community of technologists building tools to help people navigate shutdowns and communication blackouts is growing.</p><p>A cornerstone of this technical resistance is the strategic partnership between campaigners and <a href="https://www.techradar.com/vpn/best-vpn">VPN providers</a>. During critical moments like national elections — when governments frequently restrict access — the coalition collaborates directly with VPN providers to distribute free, secure access.</p><p>While virtual private networks (VPNs) are effective at evading platform-specific blocks, they are useless during total internet blackouts. This limitation has driven the creation of Bluetooth-enabled mesh messaging apps, such as <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.bridgefy.main&hl=en_GB">Bridgefy</a>, to try and keep local communication channels open offline. However they have certain limitations, too. </p><p>Access to censorship-resistant tools is only half the battle. That is why the coalition also conducts digital security workshops, teaching local communities how to secure their physical devices and communicate safely under heavy surveillance.</p><p>"In the absence of internet access, anything that enables you to communicate is a lifeline," Anthonio said, encouraging developers to release more open-source tools tailored to communities facing shutdowns.</p><div data-widget-type="multimodelreview" data-model-name="NordVPN,Surfshark,Proton VPN" data-widget-title="Today's best VPN deals" class="hawk-root"></div><h2 id="another-decade-of-fighting-internet-shutdowns">Another decade of fighting internet shutdowns? </h2><p>After ten years of #KeepItOn — and nine since she first witnessed the human toll of blackouts — Anthonio is clear about one thing: winning this fight may take another decade or more, but every victory along the way matters. However, achieving those wins requires a growing global coalition.</p><p>"Without tracking and accountability, the suppression would be far worse. But this fight requires collective efforts. There's no way civil society alone can do this," Anthonio said. </p><p>From tech giants, telecom operators, and governments to engineers and everyday citizens, she believes everyone has a role to play in preventing the normalization of digital blackouts.</p><p>That is the core message of the "Sound of the Silenced" initiative — encouraging people to ask themselves: What if this happened to me? How would an internet shutdown disrupt my life?</p><p>As Anthonio puts it: "As lives are more digitally interconnected, it should be everyone's hope to defend our rights online just as we defend them offline."</p> </article> ]]>