Government Shutdowns and Conflict Plunge Millions Offline in Q1 2026

The opening months of 2026 laid bare a disturbing global trend: governments and conflict zones increasingly wield internet shutdowns as blunt instruments of control and repression. According to a Cloudflare report, Uganda and Iran led the charge with prolonged, nationwide blackouts that left citizens in digital darkness for weeks.

Uganda’s internet blackout began January 13, just days before its presidential election. The Uganda Communications Commission ordered mobile operators to suspend public internet access, claiming the shutdown was necessary to "curb misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks." In reality, domestic internet traffic plunged from 72 Gbps to nearly zero, effectively cutting off Ugandans from the outside world as incumbent President Yoweri Museveni secured a seventh term. Civil rights groups and telecom companies pushed back with lawsuits, but the damage to democratic transparency was done.

Iran’s situation was even more severe. Two nationwide shutdowns in January and late February coincided with escalating military strikes and political unrest. Traffic from Iran dropped to near zero, with aggressive filtering allowing only a handful of government-approved sites and users limited “white SIM cards” access. This blackout is one of the longest sustained internet disruptions in recent memory, leaving millions isolated from vital information and communication. The government’s tactics included complex IP address manipulation and route filtering to enforce the shutdown without fully withdrawing internet infrastructure.

Other countries suffered too. Cuba experienced three separate national electrical grid failures that collapsed internet access multiple times. In the Republic of Congo, a near-total internet shutdown coincided with a presidential election expected to extend Denis Sassou Nguesso’s decades-long rule. Ukraine’s ongoing military conflict continued to disrupt connectivity, affecting cloud infrastructure in the Middle East as well.

Even outside authoritarian hotspots, technical failures caused major outages. Severe weather knocked out Portugal’s internet, cable damage hit the Republic of Congo, and Verizon Wireless faced unexplained disruptions in the United States. Guinea and the United Kingdom also saw brief connectivity issues from unknown sources.

These shutdowns and outages are far from isolated incidents. They reflect a growing pattern where governments prioritize control over citizens’ rights to information and communication, especially during politically sensitive moments like elections or conflict. The weaponization of internet access threatens democratic integrity worldwide and underscores the urgent need for international pressure and digital rights advocacy.

We will continue tracking these abuses to hold power accountable and amplify the voices silenced by these digital blackouts. Because in the fight for democracy, internet access is not a luxury—it is a lifeline.