Data presented by the Atlas VPN team,has revealed that Twitter and Facebook, two highly influential social media platforms, have been targeted by governments worldwide for their role in facilitating communication and mobilisation.
Protests and active conflicts were the primary triggers of the internet shutdowns.
The data is based on the Access Now and #KeepItOn coalition Weapons of control, shields of impunity: Internet shutdowns in 2022 report.
The report shows that:
Governments restricted access to Twitter 13 times in 2022.
Facebook’s access was also limited by governments on 13 occasions.
Governments enforced limitations on Instagram’s and WhatsApp’s accessibility, blocking each social media app 10 times.
The primary leading cause for internet shutdowns was protests, leading to 62 cutoffs from the web.
Active conflicts were the reason for 33 internet shutdowns in 2022.
The first part of the report covers how many times social media apps were blocked by governments in 2022.
The second part of the report goes over the internet shutdown triggers.
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