Internet Shutdowns Should Be Discussed

When repression meets resistance: internet shutdowns in 2025

PUBLISHED: 31 March 2026 LAST UPDATED: 31 March 2026

“Everyone is on high alert, constantly watching the sky with fright and exhaustion […] We also keep our eyes on our mobile phone connections — the moment the signal drops, we immediately take cover in underground shelters. We’ve come to understand that a loss of communication signals an impending airstrike.— Humanitarian aid worker on the internet shutdown that took place in Myanmar during air strikes near Tamu township in the Sagaing region.

The 2025 data and analysis confirm a horrific reality: internet shutdowns are increasing, not decreasing — and their impact on people’s lives is devastating. Shutdowns reached a new record high in the past year, continuing the steady increase since 2020. Our new report, Rising repression meets global resistance: Internet shutdowns in 2025, documents how democratic and autocratic governments alike deploy them to silence, collectively punish, and terrorize populations, as well as to hide human rights violations and killings. At the same time, we highlight how resistance is growing and people’s power is rising, and offer recommendations for stakeholders to push back. From Myanmar to Iran, Tanzania to Nepal, communities are challenging repression, demanding accountability, and devising new ways to reconnect during blackouts.

read the report

In 2025, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition documented 313 shutdowns in 52 countries, surpassing the appalling records from 2024 (304) and 2023 (289). Seven new countries joined the offender list in 2025, meaning that people in 100 countries have now experienced a shutdown since we started tracking in 2016. As 2026 began, there were 75 shutdowns in 33 countries that persisted from 2025, a significant increase from the 54 shutdowns in 26 countries that were ongoing from 2024 into 2025. This shows that perpetrators are increasingly attempting to permanently block communications platforms or even keep entire populations cut off from the internet indefinitely.

If you can’t see the highlights below, please check your privacy-enhancing browser extensions. Open in desktop view for the best experience.

(snip-go see. The site is Access Now, it’s safe, the subject of this story (internet access) is its specialty, and my Ad Blocker even shows no blocked ads on the page! Go finish reading this, because forewarned should be forearmed, as to organizing locally.)

https://www.accessnow.org/internet-shutdowns-2025/

Some Joe My God headlines that caught my eye

I got up at 3 am this morning and was able to respond to almost all the comments. That gave me a few minutes while I ate some apple oatmeal for breakfast to read some news from Joe My God that he posted yesterday. Here they are in no particular order. Hugs

Yes it would make me want to sign up to work grueling hours and possibly die for a country that wants to use my graduation to arrest and deport my family members. Great move. Hugs.

ICE Agents To Attend USMC Boot Camp Graduation Ceremony To Arrest Undocumented Family Members

I wonder what makes a person so hateful, bigoted, and racist. How much do you fear not being in a super majority and why? Do they worry that the new majority will treat them the way they treated the minorities when they were the majority? Hugs

Politico: Architect Of 2020 Fake Elector Scheme Is Main Driver Of Campaign To Overturn Birthright Citizenship

More racism. This program they are now stopping claiming it is DEI and woke is because the first program illegally excluded black people in an attempt to be racist. Hugs

USDA Cancels $300M “DEI” Program To Help Farmers

I was not sure whether to put this under corruption or racism. But as they are clearly using race, skin color, and language/accents to stop and detain people, racism won the toss. Hugs

DHS Halts Plans To Purchase More Warehouse Gulags

OK more bigotry if not racism. The joy these people get from forcing kids to be cis or straight rather than let people just express themselves as they are is something I don’t understand. Seriously, why the need to go against all the medical science, medical studies that show conversion therapy to not only not work but to be very harmful to those who experiance it. It is torture and child abuse. Kids who are forced into it, who have to suffer through conversion therapy are much more likely to try to commit suicide. For what goal, to please their god? Their god created the trans / gay person as trans or gay.

Ex-Gay Torture Group Celebrates Supreme Court Ruling

Grift, graft, and corruption run rampant in the tRump administration. Hugs

Duffy Partners With MTV’s “Real World” Producers For Reality Series About His Family On Extended Road Trip

The Army felt it was important enough breach of regulations and rules along with a waste of taxpayer money to suspend and investigate those involved. Pete Kegseth our Fox host wannabe big time war general secretary of defense over ruled their decision and undermined their authority because it looked cool. He is acting like a 10 year old boy playing army with his toys. Kegseth also illegally removed 4 officers from being promoted to flag rank. Two because they were female and two because they were black. The rest he wanted to be promoted were white men of course. Hugs

Hegseth Kills Army Probe Into Kid Rock Fly-By: “Pilots Suspension Lifted, No Punishment, Carry On Patriots”

More illegal actions by the wannabe dictator and his administration who believe anything tRump mumbles is the law of the land and they do not have to follow any rule or law. Hugs

Judge: Trump Illegally Ended Legal Status Of Migrants

tRump illegally deciding that his administration can decide who gets to vote and how voting is done. All by his decree. The dear leader has spoken. Hugs

Trump Signs Order To Create List Of “Eligible Voters”

More crime? Why am I surprised that people that rioted and attacked the US Capitol, breaking in and causing mass damage might not respect the laws? In that act they assaulted police, staff, and tried to kill congress members. Hugs

NYT: “People Trump Pardoned Are On A Crime Spree”

Let’s talk about Trump and Hegseth trying to manage failure….

Let’s talk about Trump bending the knee to Putin again….

tRump claims he would let any country send oil to Cuba. That is not true. Canadawanted to send supplies and oil and tRump threatened them to back down. Mexico was going to supply oil to Cuba and tRump threatened to destroy the ships and attack Mexico, so they backed down. But when Putin sent oil, tRump totally ignored it and claimed to have wanted it. I do not know what Putin has on tRump but it has to be more than the Epstein files. It has to be something that could totally ruin him, his father, and his kids. Also Russia is openly helping Iran and yet tRump removed the oil sanctions to give them more money to continue to batter Ukraine while tRump stopped direct shipments of military supplies needed by Ukraine some time ago. The Europeans picked up the slack by buying the US military arms to send to Ukraine themselves. tRump is now refusing to honor the 750 million dollars worth of paid for orders of these countries to instead send the arms to the Middle East. Again what does Putin have on tRump and so many in our congress? Hugs.

Gah. Wish I Hadn’t Read This

But it’s important info, nauseating though it is. Also, click on through to the story, as everything I copy on their page to paste here turns into the title, with “Read more at:” and the link. So, my apologies, but this is a thing that we need to know.

“From Greenland to Guyana, our security perimeter is one hemisphere”: Pete Hegseth unveils ‘Greater North America’ strategy

“From Greenland to Guyana, our security perimeter is one hemisphere”: Pete Hegseth unveils ‘Greater North America’ strategy
Read more At:
https://www.aninews.in/news/world/us/from-greenland-to-guyana-our-security-perimeter-is-one-hemisphere-pete-hegseth-unveils-greater-north-america-strategy20260330080242/

Important Words From Rev. William Barber

Rev. William Barber: Why the Midterm Election is So Important

Rev. Barber: We have to start teaching people that when we talk about politics, there is not an aspect of your life—from your birth to your death—that is not impacted.

By Rev. William Barber II

Published March 30, 2026

When we look at the midterm elections, we have to start with the basics. We are electing every member of the United States House of Representatives and one-third of the United States Senate. In most places, we are electing their entire state general assemblies, and many are electing governors, attorney generals, and so forth. We are electing the very people who impact every aspect of our lives. These elections determine whether we will have people in office who want to ensure everyone has health care or who want to take health care away; whether we want people in office who will vote to make sure everyone is paid a living wage versus just giving more money to corporations; whether they will care about poor and low-wage voters and the resources for people to afford a basic life, or whether all they will care about is giving more wealth to the already wealthy. That is what’s on the line.

Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign speaks at the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival Rally at the US Supreme Court on October 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Repairers Of The Breach)

What is at stake is whether or not you have a Congress that will demand that the President, whoever that President is, cannot just act unilaterally, but must get congressional approval for war; whether or not we have a budget; whether or not TSA agents are paid; whether or not government employees are paid; whether or not we have a Congress that will stand up and not just be a rubber stamp to what an authoritarian President wants to do or will just “go along to get along.”

We have to start teaching people that when we talk about politics, there is not an aspect of your life—from your birth to your death—that is not impacted. You’re not officially recognized without a birth certificate, which is the result of a political decision. You can’t guarantee your Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security without political decisions. Even as you die, people must understand that politics is not just about personality; it’s about people being put in place and the kinds of policies and vision they will enact.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, is a Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. He serves as President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign

Trump Is Going Full Quagmire In Iran

Trump Struggles Speaking After Being Humiliated By Iran

The Roads to Mattis, Iran, Trump, and Hormuz.

Some News Bits

A few things I ran across before lunch, in one post with links. Ollie and I had a good lunch, got a few things done, then took a nice walk on a cooler day when his thick black fur coat is not too heavy for him to be on a jaunt before 7 AM; it was 2 PM.😃

Back to reality, I saw this Reuters story about Iran hacking US FBI, but it was a subscriber only story (I agree-WTF? Why should profit be made on a story like that, when some of the free articles are such dreck…) But, here is a free one:

FBI director Kash Patel’s emails, photos hacked by Iran-linked group

The vigilante group Handala Hack Team said that it had successfully gained access to Patel’s personal email account.

Then, I know many of us, if we didn’t yawn, noticed the hypocrisy in wrangling for a law that includes banning mail-in voting while on the way to the post-box. If you’re busy, just click through; the money phrase is right there at the top.

The young woman who is running for my district’s US House seat, Katy Tindell, has a website now! I’ve mentioned her, but couldn’t link because all there was was an Act Blue contribution page. But now, she has her own website.

Every one of our states has at least one candidate like this running. Please choose a campaign anywhere (But work from your home district/state first, if you can,) and sign up. Money’s tight everywhere, but give the candidate some time if you want to see them in office. There are many things that need doing, and campaigns are better off with volunteers helping.

Finally for this post, Sojo has run a piece the author, Emma Cieslik, writes about Taylor Tomlinson, and Tomlinson’s influence on the author’s own deconstruction and being out. Seriously worth the click.