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Draft:2024 Bangladesh internet blackout

2024 Bangladesh internet blackouts
Part of Student–People's uprising
Date
  • 18 – 28 July 2024 (10 days)
  • 4 – 5 August 2024 (1 day)
LocationBangladesh
TypeInternet outage
TargetActivists

2024 internet blackouts[1] was a series of internet outage occured during the 2024 quota reform movement in Bangladesh, when the Sheikh Hasina regime ordered internet to be shut down across the country.[2][3] The first nationwide shutdown of internet access begun on 18 July, which was restored on 24 July for broadband connections and 28 July for mobile connections,[4] although social media establishments like Facebook, Instagram continued to be blocked, which was finally restored on 31 July. Following the renewed unrest, The second shutdown on 4G networks was imposed on 4 August, but restored on 5 August just after the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.

Background

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Further information: 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement

The outages

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The nationwide shutdown of Internet access begun on 18 July continued into 19 July.[5]

 
 Cloudflare Radar  
@CloudflareRadar

Bangladesh is experiencing a near complete #Internet outage after a government-ordered shutdown of mobile networks. Traffic and announced address space dropped to near-zero around 15:00 UTC (21:00 local).

19 July 2024[6]

After the deadly Shutdown, the Anti-discrimination Students' Movement and the government started negotiations on 19 July night. At midnight, a meeting took place between three government representatives and three representatives of the protesters: Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Tanvir Ahmed.[7] On 21 July, the Appellate division of the Supreme Court finally reduced the percentage of quotas from 56% to 7%.[citation needed]

Following the verdict on July 22, the Anti-discrimination Students' Movement announced a two-day suspension of protests. They demanded that the government lift the curfew, restore internet access, and cease targeting student protesters.[8] With the suspension of the protests by the Anti-discrimination Students' Movement, no further violence was reported by this period. The agitators later further extended the suspension.[9]

Meanwhile, the government gradually relaxed the curfew restrictions, allowing banks, factories and offices to reopen.[10]

On 23 July, the ICT Minister announced that the government would restore broadband internet service partially to banks, business organizations, export sectors, and selected areas after a five-day disruption.[11] Accordingly, on 24 July, broadband internet services were restored,[12][13] and on 28 July, mobile internet was restored in Bangladesh, although social media websites like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok continued to be blocked.[14] At 15:00, after being shut down for 13 days, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms were reopened.[15]

On 2 August, due to the renewed unrest, internet service providers again restricted access to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram.[16] After five hours of restriction, access to Facebook and Messenger were reopened; however Telegram remained restricted.[17]

4 August became the deadliest of the protests with around 91 people killed, including 14 police officers. Clashes erupted between protesters and police while protesters blocked major highways. Police stations as well as Awami League offices where targeted by rioters. Police forces shot tear gas and claimed to have fired rubber bullets although some people were injured and killed by actual bullets. The renewed demonstrations led the government to shut down internet and to declare an indefinite nationwide curfew stating from 6 p.m..[18]

As per reports, broadband internet services were reinstated approximately at 1:00 p.m. on 5 August,[19] followed by the restoration of cellular internet access after 2:00 p.m.[20] However, access to social media platforms continued to be restricted.[21][22] The curfew was rescinded on 6 August, and offices, businesses, and schools were permitted to resume operations on the same day.[23]

Impact

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See also

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Related events
Related people

References

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  1. ^ "Bangladesh wakes to TV, internet blackout as deadly protests spike". France 24. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  2. ^ Hasan, Mahmudul (13 August 2024). "What you need to know about internet crackdown in Bangladesh". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Government itself shut down internet". Prothom Alo. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Bangladesh restores mobile internet after 11-day blackout to quell protests". Al Jazeera. 28 July 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  5. ^ "দেশজুড়ে বন্ধ ইন্টারনেট পরিষেবা, অগ্নিগর্ভ বাংলাদেশে বাড়ছে হতাহতের সংখ্যা, বাড়ছে উদ্বেগ". aajkaal.in. Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  6. ^ Cloudflare Radar [@CloudflareRadar] (19 July 2024). "Bangladesh is experiencing a near complete #Internet outage after a government-ordered shutdown of mobile networks. Traffic and announced address space dropped to near-zero around 15:00 UTC (21:00 local)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "কোটা আন্দোলনে ঢাকাসহ সারাদেশে ব্যাপক সংঘর্ষ, কারফিউ জারি - BBC News বাংলা" (in Bengali). 2024-07-20. Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  8. ^ "Bangladesh Quota Row: Students Pause Protest For 48-Hour, Demand Govt To Lift Curfew". The Times of India. 2024-07-22. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  9. ^ "Bangladesh Student Leader Extends Protest Suspension For 48 More Hours". Barron's. 23 July 2024. Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Bangladesh relaxes curfew as unrest recedes". Hindustan Times. Agence France-Presse. 25 July 2024. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Broadband internet is back in Bangladesh after quota protest disruption for 5 days". Bdnews24.com. 23 July 2024. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  12. ^ Paul, Ruma (24 July 2024). "Bangladesh factories, banks reopen as curfew is eased after protests taper off". Reuters. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  13. ^ Alam, Julhas (24 July 2024). "Bangladesh crawls back to normalcy after violent clashes that killed nearly 200 people". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 August 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Mobile internet restored, decision on social media July 31". The Daily Observer. 28 July 2024. Archived from the original on 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  15. ^ প্রতিবেদক, নিজস্ব (2024-07-31). "ফেসবুক–হোয়াটসঅ্যাপ চালু". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 1 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  16. ^ "Facebook shut down again on mobile network, Telegram too". Prothom Alo. 2 August 2024. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  17. ^ "মোবাইল ইন্টারনেটে ৫ ঘণ্টা পর ফেসবুক-মেসেঞ্জার আবার চালু". Prothom Alo. 2 August 2024. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  18. ^ "At least 91 killed in Bangladesh protests as curfew and internet blocks imposed". CNN. Reuters. 2024-08-04. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  19. ^ "Broadband internet restored". Prothomalo. 5 August 2024. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Mobile Internet restored". Prothomalo. 2024-08-05. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  21. ^ "Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns and flees country as protesters storm palace". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Broadband, 4G internet services restored". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  23. ^ "Bangladesh Curfew To End Tuesday, Businesses To Reopen: Military". Barron's. Archived from the original on 6 August 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
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