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Protests erupted Due to the country’s economic crisis, food shortages and rising Covid-19 infection around Cuba on Sunday, the national island’s ruling party responded by blocking access to popular platforms for Facebook, WhatsApp and other popular communications and social networks. That is a measure authoritarian governments have repeatedly expanded in recent years, the increasing Balkanization of the internet has made it a useful tool for repressive regimes that seek to stifle unrest.
The Cuban government has done something like that before, especially when access to WhatsApp and Twitter was interrupted last November when protests in Havana were localized. It seems to have gone further this time. Reports indicate on Sunday that Cuba had short and general Internet disruptions; after the return of connectivity, not only Facebook and WhatsApp, but also Instagram, Signal and Telegram were difficult or impossible to access from the island. Most of them VPNak it also appeared blocked. Netblocks, an internet control company in London, said on Tuesday that the platform’s blockade was ongoing.
“Restrictions on Arrests, Attacks on the Press, and Internet Access,” said Pedro Vaca Villarreal, special rapporteur on freedom of expression for the American Commission on Human Rights. he wrote on Sunday. “The state must guarantee the rights of peace assembly and expression by refusing to repress and stigmatize the protest.”
The Cuban national telecommunications company Etecsa, which provides both broadband and Cubacel mobile data, was founded in 1994. But historically the government has a lot limited It could have had an internet connection and only in 2016 did it slowly begin to open up access. In 2019 the regime began to accept limited connections for the first time private homes and businesses. The combination of complete control and novice users makes it relatively easy for the government to do widespread internet shutdowns and platform-specific blocking.
“Although the Internet is gaining importance in Cuba a few decades ago, it is still limited and expensive. The government will be able to control its infrastructure through the state-owned telecommunications company,” says Juan Carlos Lara, director of public policy at the Latin American rights group Derechos Digitales. “But the actions of blockade and censorship are almost not just for the Cuban regime. Every time we see protests, not only in Latin America, we expect an accusation of blockade and censorship.”
Unlike systems designed for full government control, the Chinese one Great firewallCuba has not listed or blocked specific sites and services, of course, because it did not need to.
“The current situation is significant because Cuba has unexpectedly had free internet,” Toker said. “A lot of monitoring was done but not so much censorship, because access was very limited.”
Etecsa has not made a public statement about the blockade and WIRED has not returned a request for comment.
“Beyond what is happening in the country, many of us have sick relatives with Covid in isolated areas and the only way we have it is through the internet,” Twitter user Félix Ernesto said. he wrote in an appeal to the telecommunications on Tuesday. “Please enter your mobile data or give an answer. Many of us need this service. “
Internet outages, platform blocking, monitoring and censorship are not just the domain of countries that have had to invest in major infrastructure projects to claim digital control. Russia and Iran. Like countries Myanmar and Venezuela they have taken similar measures in the face of protests and unrest, and have been able to do so more easily because their digital infrastructure is more centralized. It is becoming more and more common to block platforms or completely shut down the Internet without dragging on for days, weeks and even months Like Kashmir During 2019 and 2020.
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