Africa saw an unprecedented wave of internet shutdowns in 2024, as governments across the continent cut off online access for millions more times than in any year over the past ten years.
A detailed survey from Access Now, a digital rights advocate, and #KeepItOn, a coalition uniting hundreds of global civic groups, recorded 21 blackouts across 15 African nations, breaking the prior record of 19 set in 2020 and 2021.
Newcomers like Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritius stepped into the fray alongside habitual offenders including Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, and Kenya. The roster also featured Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania, with some outages driven by armed factions beyond state control.
Felicia Anthonio, head of the #KeepItOn effort at Access Now, stressed that telecom firms and internet providers carrying out government-directed service cuts are also at fault for trampling on human rights, pointing to UN standards for businesses.
The findings highlighted that these disruptions mostly stemmed from unrest, public marches, or shaky political moments, with several linked to voting seasons.
The surge wasn’t limited to Africa—worldwide, 296 internet clampdowns hit 54 countries, up from 283 across 39 nations the previous year.
Access Now labeled the data the grimmest since it began monitoring in 2016, warning that the climb reveals a planet where online connection is repeatedly twisted into a weapon, choked off, or left fragile.
“Behind each of the 1,754 shutdowns since 2016 is a story of people and communities cut off from the world and each other, often during political upheaval, unrest, violence and war,” the report said.
By late 2024, Access Now noted at least five African blackouts had dragged on for over 12 months. In Uganda, Meta’s social media apps stayed offline into early 2025, despite government meetings with the company.
On Equatorial Guinea’s Annobon island, residents lost internet and phone access after an August 2024 rally over ecological damage and neglect from the central authority.
The rash of outages spurred the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to adopt a historic resolution in March 2024, aiming to halt the growing problem.
Still, the backslide persisted, Anthonio noted. “It’s rather unfortunate we saw more election-related shutdowns in Africa and other places in 2024 despite the adoption of the ACHPR resolution last year,” she said.
“Despite the resolution, it’s a positive step as it has served as a vital resource and reference for civil society’s advocacy against rights-harming shutdowns. It is difficult for us to tell if the resolution is yielding results already, but we did see authorities in countries like Mauritius and South Sudan [in January 2025] backtrack or reverse shutdown orders.”
