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Over a third of African countries have restricted internet access during elections since 2015, Surfshark's latest data suggests.
The grim scenario depicted by the VPN service provider gets even worse considering citizens in Africa have increasingly been kept in the dark in times of protests and national exams.
Just last month, internet service degradation was recorded across Zimbabwe on the evening of crucial elections held on August 23. Authorities in Gabon cut the internet as citizens headed to the polls on August 26, too, triggering a military coup d'état a few days later. Now, as new elections are scheduled in four more countries in the upcoming months, what's at stake for African citizens?
8 out of 10 Africans experienced internet restrictions
"The internet is an integral component of democratic elections. When it’s restricted, people can no longer freely read the news or share opinions with their fellow citizens online," said Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske from Surfshark.
Governments, mostly autocracies, may decide to restrict social media platforms and/or internet data to avoid public demonstrations during that time, too. Cutting off data connectivity prevents organizers from promoting upcoming protests among citizens.
As for September 6, 2023, the secure VPN provider counted a total of 30 countries around the world that have participated in intentional internet disruption around election time since 2015. Two thirds of these were African nations. However, the raw number of restrictions was still higher in Asia—notoriously the biggest perpetrator of internet shutdowns. A total of 31 cases were recorded in Asia compared to 28 in Africa, 17 of which were enforced across the Jammu & Kashmir territory alone.
Commenting on this point, a Surfshark spokesperson told TechRadar: "Globally, 2.3 billion people have been affected by internet restrictions amid elections—this is the most shocking and devastating finding. It highlights the need to spread the word about these restrictions and put pressure on these governments to stop taking such measures."
That's exactly what the company seeks to do with its Internet Shutdown Tracker, a tool developed in collaboration with UK-based watchdog NetBlocks to map new and past incidents around the globe.
