What is an internet shutdown

An internet shutdown is a government-ordered disruption of internet access affecting a region, a network operator, or an entire country. Sometimes the shutdown is total (no internet at all). Sometimes it is partial: specific platforms blocked, mobile networks shut down, or international gateways cut while domestic services keep working.

Shutdowns are deployed during political unrest, election periods, exam periods (yes, really — India and Iraq have shut down internet to prevent exam cheating), and as a routine response to protests in several countries.

How shutdowns are implemented

Several technical mechanisms, used singly or in combination:

Mobile-network shutdowns. Authorities order carriers to suspend service on the cellular network. Affects mobile internet and often voice calls. Common in India, Pakistan, Iran. Wired internet may continue working.

ISP-level disconnection. Authorities order specific ISPs to disconnect or null-route traffic. The ISP's customers lose internet entirely. Used during nationwide events.

Gateway-level shutdowns. Authorities cut the international internet gateways, leaving only domestic services accessible. Iran's National Information Network is designed for this — domestic banking, government services, and a small whitelist of approved sites stay up while international internet is unreachable.

DPI-level platform blocks. TSPU in Russia, the Great Firewall in China, and similar systems in other countries block specific platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Telegram) selectively rather than the whole internet.

DNS poisoning and IP blackholing. Cheaper than full shutdowns. ISPs return wrong DNS answers for blocked domains or null-route specific IP ranges. Trivially bypassed by VPNs.

What a VPN can and cannot do

A VPN handles platform-specific blocks and DNS-level censorship by routing your traffic through a server in a country where the platform is unrestricted. This works as long as you have an internet connection at all.

A VPN cannot route around a full internet shutdown. If your ISP has cut all traffic or your country has cut its international gateways, there is no traffic to tunnel. The VPN client cannot reach its server, so the tunnel never establishes.

What still works during full shutdowns:

• Mesh networking apps. Briar, Bridgefy, Berty — Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-direct messaging between nearby devices. No internet needed; range is short (10-100m typically).
• SMS via international roaming SIMs. If your domestic carrier is shut down but your phone has an international SIM that can roam, SMS sometimes works.
• Satellite internet. Starlink, where available and not blocked. Iran has tested satellite blocking; Russia has too. Sudan had Starlink work during ground-network shutdowns until being blocked in late 2025.
• Old-school radio. Genuinely. Shortwave radio is hard to censor and people in shutdown environments use it for international news.

How shutdowns are tracked

Several organisations track internet shutdowns globally:

• Access Now's #KeepItOn campaign — annual reports plus real-time tracker.
• OONI Explorer — Open Observatory of Network Interference, runs measurement probes from inside affected countries.
• Internet Society Pulse — internet health metrics including shutdown alerts.
• NetBlocks — network observatory that publishes real-time shutdown bulletins.

Notable recent shutdowns

• Iran, February-April 2026. 53-day partial nationwide shutdown — the longest sustained shutdown in Iran's history. International gateways cut for most of the period; domestic services partially functional.
• Tanzania, October-November 2025. Nationwide social-media block and internet throttling around the October 29 election.
• Sudan, 2023-2025. Multiple shutdowns during the civil war; Starlink blackout November 2025 during fighting in El Fasher.
• Pakistan, recurring. Mobile-network shutdowns during political events; led globally in shutdown frequency in 2023-2024.
• India, recurring. Manipur saw 21 shutdowns in 2024; exam-period shutdowns in Rajasthan and other states.
• Bangladesh, 2024. Nationwide internet shutdown during the protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina.

Why this matters

Shutdowns are increasing globally. Per Access Now's #KeepItOn report, more than 280 documented shutdowns in 2023 — the highest year on record. The trend continues upward.

For users in countries with shutdown patterns, having a VPN already installed and tested before a shutdown happens is the practical preparation. The VPN will not help during a full shutdown, but for the more common partial shutdowns (specific platforms blocked, DPI intensified) a VPN with VLESS Reality routes around the blocks.

Read more in What works in Russia in 2026, VPN for Iran, VPN for Pakistan, and the censorship map.

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