2024 Bangladesh internet blackouts explained

2024 Bangladesh internet blackouts
Partof:Student–People's uprising
Type:Internet outage
Date:
  • 18 – 28 July 2024
  • 4 – 5 August 2024
Location:Bangladesh
Perpetrator:
Target:Online activists in support of the uprising

From mid-July to early-August 2024, a series of internet blackouts occurred in Bangladesh during the Student–People's uprising,[1] when the Sheikh Hasina administration ordered internet to be shut down across the country.[2] [3]

The first nationwide shutdown of internet access begun on 18 July during the quota reform movement, which was restored on 24 July for broadband connections and on 28 July for mobile connections,[4] but social media establishments like Facebook, Instagram continued to be blocked, which was initially restored on 31 July. Following the renewed unrest, the second shutdown on 4G networks was imposed on 4 August, but restored on 5 August following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.

Background

2024 quota reform movement was organised to demand the reduction of the amount of quotas in the government jobs following the retainment of the system by the High Court on 5 June 2024. Initially started as a peaceful demonstration by the university students in the beginning of July, the Awami League-led government imposed a crackdown upon the protesters by the law-enforcing agencies and the ruling party members to suppress the protests. The netizens in various social media platforms heavily slammed and denounced the suppression by the police and Chhatra League, the student wing of Awami League, members. The protests turned violent following the death of Abu Sayed in Rangpur on 16 July. To avoid further online activism and to halt organisation of the protesters in online, the government decided to shutdown internet nationwide on 18 July, the deadliest day of the protests till then.

Outages

First blackout

The first phase of the nationwide shutdown of internet access begun on 18 July continued to 28 July.[5]

On 22 July, Anti-discrimination Students Movement announced a two-day suspension of protests and demanded to restore internet access as soon as possible.[6] The next day, on 23 July, the ICT Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak announced that the government would restore broadband internet service partially to banks, business organizations, export sectors, and selected areas after disruption.[7]

Accordingly, on 24 July, broadband internet services were restored,[8] [9] and on 28 July, mobile internet was restored, ending the 10-day long internet blackout in Bangladesh. Although social media websites like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok continued to be blocked.[10] At 15:00, after being shut down for 13 days, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms were reopened.[11]

Second blackout

On 2 August due to the renewed unrest, internet service providers again restricted access to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram.[12] After five hours of restriction, access to Facebook and Messenger were reopened; however Telegram remained restricted.[13]

4 August, the first day of non-cooperation, became the deadliest of the protests with around 91 people killed, including 14 police officers. As a result, the government again shutdown nationwide internet access,[14] starting the second phase of the shutdowns. It was restored on the second day, 5 August, after the fall of the government. As per reports, broadband internet services were reinstated approximately at 1:00 pm on 5 August,[15] followed by the restoration of cellular internet access after 2:00 pm,[16] however, access to social media platforms continued to be restricted.[17] [18]

Impact

The internet blackout affected the Bangladeshi economy including banking services heavily as well as communication.[19] [20] [21]

Investigation

After the Hasina administration's fall, the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology issued a statement regarding an investigation into the internet outage.[22] According to a preliminary report by an independent seven-member committee, the former ICT Minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, verbally directed the Chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, to instruct operators to disable internet services.[23] The investigation further confirmed that the internet shutdown was unrelated to the fire at the data center that occurred during the same period which was shown as the cause for disruption by the former ICT Minister.[24] The inquiry also revealed that the shutdown and subsequent restoration of mobile internet services were implemented without the administrative approval of the Post and Telecommunications Division.[25]

See also

Related topics
Related people

Notes and References

  1. News: Bangladesh wakes to TV, internet blackout as deadly protests spike. 19 July 2024. en. 20 October 2024. France 24.
  2. News: What you need to know about internet crackdown in Bangladesh. Hasan. Mahmudul. 13 August 2024. en. 20 October 2024. The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  3. News: Government itself shut down internet. 28 July 2024. en. 20 October 2024. Prothom Alo.
  4. News: Bangladesh restores mobile internet after 11-day blackout to quell protests. 28 July 2024. en. 20 October 2024. Al Jazeera.
  5. Web site: bn:দেশজুড়ে বন্ধ ইন্টারনেট পরিষেবা, অগ্নিগর্ভ বাংলাদেশে বাড়ছে হতাহতের সংখ্যা, বাড়ছে উদ্বেগ . https://aajkaal.in/story/19735/bangladesh_protests_at_least_39_people_died_in_the_violence_gnr . Aajkaal . 20 July 2024 . en . 20 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240720131849/https://aajkaal.in/story/19735/bangladesh_protests_at_least_39_people_died_in_the_violence_gnr . live .
  6. Web site: Bangladesh Quota Row: Students Pause Protest For 48-Hour, Demand Govt To Lift Curfew . 22 July 2024 . 25 July 2024 . . en . 25 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240725080109/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/bangladesh-quota-row-students-pause-protest-for-48-hour-demand-govt-to-lift-curfew/articleshow/111925041.cms . live .
  7. Web site: Broadband internet is back in Bangladesh after quota protest disruption for 5 days. Bdnews24.com. 23 July 2024. 23 July 2024. 23 July 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240723164812/https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/a8f6d9dab5f0. live.
  8. Web site: Bangladesh factories, banks reopen as curfew is eased after protests taper off . Ruma . Paul . Reuters. 24 July 2024 . 25 July 2024.
  9. Web site: Bangladesh crawls back to normalcy after violent clashes that killed nearly 200 people . Julhas . Alam . . 24 July 2024 . 25 July 2024 . 4 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240804030034/https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-campus-violence-hasina-bc513b6d68cf5b94cfd898f3c7f153d2 . live .
  10. Web site: Mobile internet restored, decision on social media July 31. 28 July 2024. 28 July 2024. The Daily Observer (Bangladesh). 28 July 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240728115750/https://www.observerbd.com/news.php?id=482527. live.
  11. Web site: প্রতিবেদক . নিজস্ব . 31 July 2024 . bn:ফেসবুক–হোয়াটসঅ্যাপ চালু . https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/ha5jw5sx5r . 23 October 2024 . . bn . 1 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240801085952/https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/ha5jw5sx5r . live .
  12. Web site: Facebook shut down again on mobile network, Telegram too. Prothom Alo. 2 August 2024. 2 August 2024. 2 August 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240802150815/https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/tfas9hrq6u. live.
  13. News: bn:মোবাইল ইন্টারনেটে ৫ ঘণ্টা পর ফেসবুক-মেসেঞ্জার আবার চালু. https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/5x03oym8yn. Prothom Alo. 2 August 2024. 2 August 2024. 2 August 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240802164929/https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/5x03oym8yn. live.
  14. Web site: Reuters . 4 August 2024 . At least 91 killed in Bangladesh protests as curfew and internet blocks imposed . 5 August 2024 . . en.
  15. News: Broadband internet restored . 5 August 2024 . . 5 August 2024 . en . 5 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240805093228/https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/gm0o97gu3x . live .
  16. Web site: 5 August 2024 . Mobile Internet restored . 2024-08-05 . . en . 5 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240805120927/https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/aoczyp8xg8 . live .
  17. Web site: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns and flees country as protesters storm palace . 5 August 2024 . . 5 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240805121906/https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ckdgg87lnkdt?post=asset:f2caf740-ec65-449a-b983-e40db0b57fd9#post . live .
  18. Web site: Broadband, 4G internet services restored . 5 August 2024 . Dhaka Tribune.
  19. News: A man-made disaster and the major economic losses it caused. Moazzem. Dr Khondoker Golam. 25 July 2024. 23 October 2024. The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  20. News: Shutdown cost the economy $10 billion: FICCI. 28 July 2024. en. 23 October 2024. The Daily Star (Bangladesh).
  21. News: Bangladesh curfews, internet blackout batter economy amid quota protests. Mahmud. Faisal. 23 July 2024. en. 23 October 2024. Al Jazeera.
  22. Web site: Palak, NTMC responsible for internet shutdown: probe report. 13 August 2024. Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. 24 October 2024.
  23. Web site: Internet was shutdown in Bangladesh on 'verbal' orders from Palak: probe report. 13 August 2024. Bdnews24.com. 24 October 2024.
  24. Web site: Palak verbally ordered internet shutdown across Bangladesh: probe report. 13 August 2024. New Age (Bangladesh). 24 October 2024.
  25. Web site: Data centre fire had no connection with internet shutdown: probe report. 13 August 2024. The Daily Star. 24 October 2024.

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