© Sigmund/UnsplashA new report released Wednesday by Access Now and Jigsaw documents internet shutdowns.
What's behind this troubling trend? "More people are getting online and getting access to the internet," said Marianne Díaz Hernández, a lawyer in Venezuela and a fellow with the nonprofit Access Now. "As governments see this as a threat, they start thinking the internet is something they need to control."
These staggering statistics come from a new report released Wednesday by Access Now and Jigsaw, a division of Alphabet that focuses on addressing societal threats with technology. The report documents the history of internet shutdowns over the last decade, the economic toll shutdowns take on the countries that impose them and what governments and the broader business and civil society community can do to stop what has fast become a widespread and grave human rights violation.
Felicia Anthonio leads Access Now's #KeepItOn campaign, which has been documenting internet shutdowns since 2016. "Internet shutdowns don't ensure stability or resolve crises that are happening," Anthonio said. "It's actually endangering people's lives."
Comment: Perhaps the Cyberpolygon exercises were in "preparation" for just such a time when a partial shutdown (or reconfiguration) of the internet may be implemented - and justified - by a cyber false flag attack. Too bad the author didn't include that possibility in her article.