{"id":1928234,"date":"2023-05-10T13:55:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T17:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/global-internet-shutdowns-are-at-record-levels-heres-what-to-do-if-it-happens-to-you\/"},"modified":"2023-05-10T14:00:33","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T18:00:33","slug":"global-internet-shutdowns-are-at-record-levels-heres-what-to-do-if-it-happens-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/global-internet-shutdowns-are-at-record-levels-heres-what-to-do-if-it-happens-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet shutdowns are increasing worldwide. What to do if it happens to you?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fglobal-internet-shutdowns-are-at-record-levels-heres-what-to-do-if-it-happens-to-you%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1928234&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Right to Access Information in the Digital Era<\/h2>\n<p>Access to information is a fundamental right that goes hand in hand with freedom and democratic values. However, in 35 countries, authoritarian regimes and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-scotus-battle-over-social-media-censorship-looks-inevitable\/\" title=\"A SCOTUS Battle Over Social Media Censorship Looks Inevitable\">private sector actors<\/a> have been using internet blackouts to control protests, suppress information, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/french-government-official-woke-culture-is-very-dangerous-and-we-shouldnt-bring-it-to-france\/\" title=\"French Government Official: \u2018Woke\u2019 Culture Is \u2018Very Dangerous, And We Shouldn\u2019t Bring It To France\u2019\">limit free speech<\/a>. This is a concerning trend that has been on the rise in recent years.<\/p>\n<h3>Internet Blackouts on the Rise<\/h3>\n<p>Last year, there were reportedly 187 forced web shutdowns globally, setting a disturbing new record. Five nations even enacted internet blackouts related to national elections in 2022. India accounts for the majority of these incidents, but China, Brazil, Myanmar, Russia, Cuba, and Iran are also on the list.<\/p>\n<p>In Ukraine, external forces were blamed for 22 internet shutdowns amid the conflict with Russia. Regardless of location, the surge in intentional web blackouts has sparked concern for many.<\/p>\n<h3>The Dangers of Forced Web Censorship<\/h3>\n<p>Forced web censorship is a violation of human rights that limits speech and dissent. It facilitates crime and injustice by limiting the ability to resist. James Song, a human rights advocate and tech pioneer, has worked with Myanmar refugees and witnessed information blackouts up close. He believes that world leaders will likely see the value in using Myanmar\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/global-internet-shutdowns-are-at-record-levels-heres-what-to-do-if-it-happens-to-you\/\" title=\"Internet shutdowns are increasing worldwide. What to do if it happens to you?\">approach versus straight-forward internet shutdowns<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe primary aim of an unjust government or leadership is to limit dissent and increase control,\u201d Song said. \u201cTraditionally, you could not do this without limiting information flow. Today, however, with the advent of publicly-accessible large language models like ChatGPT, we\u2019ll probably enter a golden age of misinformation. Where dictators will want you to access the internet so they can feed you specific disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Rise of Disinformation<\/h3>\n<p>Censorship and misinformation have been the go-to move of authoritarian regimes for years. It became increasingly prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic and, for some countries, an even bigger crutch once the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/norm-macdonald-has-one-last-laugh-in-nothing-special\/\" title=\"Norm Macdonald Has One Last Laugh In \u2018Nothing Special\u2019\">world opened back<\/a> up and began dropping restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>Song predicts an \u201cexponential rise\u201d in the use of disinformation which, ironically, requires internet access. \u201cThere will also likely be a sharp rise in never-before-seen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mainstream-media-and-big-techs-seismic-shift-to-the-left\/\" title=\"Mainstream Media and Big Tech\u2019s Seismic Shift to the Left\">news media outlets<\/a> as disinformation agents seek new distribution channels,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h3>The Threat of Internet Shutdowns<\/h3>\n<p>For now, hitting the internet \u201ckill switch\u201d and throwing populations into web darkness is trending. The United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clement Voule, noted: \u201cShutdowns are lasting longer, becoming harder to detect and targeting particular social media and messaging applications and specific localities and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some have suggested internet shutdowns could easily happen in the United States, given the vague language used in the \u201cpresidential emergency action documents,\u201d which the Brennan Center for Justice released to the public last year. Originally drafted during the Eisenhower administration, the documents outlined the granting of extensive emergency powers to a U.S. president\u2014including a total communications shutdown\u2014if a threat to the continuity of government arose.<\/p>\n<p>The papers offered a sobering reality to Americans who were unaware of the lack of government oversight during a state of emergency. But if an internet shutdown happens on U.S. soil, it would be a violation of the First Amendment and a threat to democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the digital era, the right to access information goes hand in hand with freedom and democratic values. However, authoritarian regimes and private sector actors in 35 countries have stepped up the use of internet blackouts as a method to control protests, free speech, and suppress information. Five nations enacted internet blackouts related to national<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":1928235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[7321,5996,22079,16174,6540],"class_list":["post-1928234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-increasing","tag-internet","tag-shutdowns","tag-worldwide","tag-you"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1928234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1928235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1928234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1928234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1928234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}