Shrinking democracy, growing violence: Internet shutdowns in 2023
By Zach Rosson, Felicia Anthonio and Carolyn Tackett
Annual #KeepItOn documentation of shutdowns and platform blocking worldwide in 2023, tying disruptions to elections, protests and conflict.
About this research
This original report presents the source research.
- Publication
- Original report · 14 pages
- Geographic focus
- Global
Publication details prepared by Social Media Transparency from the original source.
Executive summary
AI-generatedThis summary was generated by AI from the original report to make it easier to scan and cite. It is not a substitute for the source. Read the original above.
This Access Now report is part of the organization's annual #KeepItOn series documenting internet shutdowns worldwide, focused on 2023. The underlying PDF could not be retrieved as readable text for this summary, so the description here relies on the report's stated scope and framing rather than its full data tables.
According to the report's framing, it catalogs shutdowns and deliberate blocking of platforms such as X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram across the year, connecting these disruptions to elections, protests, and armed conflict in multiple countries and regions, including the Middle East and North Africa.
The report situates 2023 within a broader trend the organization has tracked for years, arguing that governments increasingly use network and platform-level shutdowns as tools of political control during periods of unrest or contested elections, with consequences for free expression and access to information.
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