How Governments Turn the Internet Into a Weapon

For two days in September, Afghanistan had no internet . No satellite failed; no cable was cut. This was a deliberate outage, mandated by the Taliban government. It followed a more localized shutdown two weeks prior, reportedly instituted “to prevent immoral activities.” No additional explanation was given. The timing couldn’t have been worse: communities still reeling from a major earthquake lost emergency communications , flights were grounded , and banking was interrupted .

Afghanistan’s blackout is part of a wider pattern. Just since the end of September, there were also major nationwide internet shutdowns in Tanzania and Cameroon , and significant regional shutdowns in Pakistan and Nigeria . In all cases but one , authoritie