Governments in the Middle East tend to cut off the Internet

Some governments in the Middle East tend to reduce the use or cut off the Internet, and to block access to social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as did Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria , Sudan, Algeria, and the Houthi coup government in Yemen, at different time periods, for various reasons, including subjugating organized political opposition, preventing widening protests, obstructing the link of protesters to the outside world, and crystallizing huge economic losses that make forces within society dismissive of protest movements.

Some years, such as 2008, witnessed a disruption to the internet traffic, as a result of a problem that affected some marine cables connected to the Internet, especially in the Mediterranean region, which led to directing the international internet traffic to alternative paths using satellites, and other undamaged cables, to avoid the severe slowdown resulting About the defect. However, after nearly three years have passed, the deliberate disconnection of the Internet has occurred repeatedly, due to its pivotal role in the change that has affected certain countries in the region, especially in countries that some international institutions classify as “enemies of the Internet” due to its widespread censorship.

In this context, it can be said that there are many interpretations in the literature regarding the orientation of some governments in the region to cut the Internet, whether partially or completely, it can be dealt with as follows:

1- The subjugation of the political opposition

The Turkish government resorted to reducing the speed of the Internet and then completely cut it off in November 2016, after the failed coup in a few months, following the arrest of a number of parliamentarians from the Kurdish Democratic Party, and issued instructions to Internet companies to prevent VPN services that Internet users resort to enter to Blocked sites, which comes in the context of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's approach to consolidating the rule of one man inside the country, in preparation for his stay in office after the constitutional amendments until 2029.

2- Preventing the spread of popular protests

Some of the governments behind the internet cut are aiming to prevent the increase in the number of protests taking place in cities and governorates within them, undermine the campaigns aiming to mobilize for a new wave of protests, and invoke protection of national security, and limit fake news, especially in light of activists' movement to spread their messages at home, and facilitate their organization Quick contact between them, exchanging news, and reassuring the protesters that they are not alone.

So, on November 17, 2019, the US announced, through US State Department spokesperson, Morgan Ortagos, its condemnation of the Iranian government’s attempt to limit access to the Internet. Perhaps its phrase “let them talk” is eloquent in this context, which is what was demanded by the group «Netbux »It is one of the civil society organizations dealing with digital rights, cybersecurity and Internet management, and seeks an open and inclusive digital future.

The concern of this communication was expressed by the statement of the Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Javad Azari Jahrami, according to what was reported by the Iranian News Agency last November 24, where he said: “The sensitive responsibility of preserving the security and stability of the country lies with the Supreme Security Auditor, where a decision was taken to restrict The Internet to maintain the stability of the community, and I was informed of the companies operating the Internet services, and as a Minister of Communications I was obsessed with providing the ability for everyone to enjoy the Internet, and the approved works that are conducted via the Internet, and I believe that life is without the virtual atmosphere and the network A world is not possible. ”

He added: «In order to achieve the free exchange of information and prevent any disruption in the activities of journalists, we have provided a large number of them with access to the Internet, and most offices of news agencies, news sites and newspapers have provided them with the possibility to connect to the Internet. At a later stage, in order not to disrupt the business and the basic needs of citizens, steps have been taken for banks to continue their activities as usual. However, the restoration of the Internet required a decision by the Iranian National Security Council, which Azari Jahrami said, which the United States imposed sanctions in this regard.

3- Blocking the protesters ’link to the outside world

This is to reduce the flow of images and videos related to the practice of repression against civilian demonstrators, the mass arrests of demonstrators, and the restriction of access to information, in a manner that leads to the blackout of what is happening on the ground, and even suppression of those protests. Governments realize that the goal of protest forces is often to inform the outside world that there is a growing anger at home from their actions, which is putting pressure on them.

In this context, it is worth noting that protesters are trying in the countries of the revolutionary movement to circumvent the blocking, where they have downloaded the VPN application, while others have used satellite means of communication, despite their high cost in order to communicate with the outside world, which is what the protest forces did in Iraq recent demonstrations.

The Internet was also cut off in Sudan in June 2019, after the "Professionals Group" page created on Facebook succeeded in increasing the number of participants in the sit-in of the General Command, in a manner that led to the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir, which showed the Transitional Military Council cautious Towards him, especially with regard to the possibility of his repetition with him after the increase in violence in the face of the protest forces. Here, the "Professionals Grouping" said in a tweet via "Twitter" on the third of June 2019: "In the event of the interruption of Internet services and communication networks in Sudan, we call on all honorable revolutionaries and revolutionaries to continue the revolutionary work, according to what was previously issued from the confrontations, and that includes demonstrations and running processions, and cutting roads, And paralyzed the movement in general in the capital and all the cities and villages of Sudan ».

And the matter is no longer limited to governments. Rather, armed militias taking power in some countries began threatening to reduce the use of the Internet. The Minister of Communications and Information Technology in the Houthi coup government, Mesfer Al-Numair, attacked his statements on social media on December 1, 2019, Internet users. In Yemen, he said that they are "consuming too much, unlike consumers in the rest of the world," which he claimed "visited and found residents using the Internet only for e-mail." This was considered by the Houthis to isolate the people from the outside world.

4- Crystallizing huge economic losses

In a way that makes forces within society reject the protest movements, which is indicated by the harm caused to thousands of owners of emerging projects, as happened in Iraq, as the losses affected the applications of taxi companies that operate the Internet exclusively. The ban also affected travel and tourism offices whose services were almost completely stopped, so most tourism companies in a number of Iraqi governorates reduced the salaries of their employees, and companies were contracted in Erbil, the largest city of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which was not affected by the blocking of its connection to the Internet through a system Various, however, this option did not achieve profits for companies, as it only serves the continuity in the labor market and customer retention.

In this context, the Iranian Minister of Communications, Azari Jahrami, apologized for the internet interruption in Iranian cities during the demonstrations that took place in the country in protest against the raising of fuel prices, where he said: “Cutting the global internet has created many problems in the lives of citizens, and I am familiar with that. Through the communications we received. There are citizens who were not aware of their dear ones in Iran, and university students and professors were denied access to international scientific sources. Also, some import and export companies suffered material damage during that period. There was also damage from the Internet outage in Sudan, the World Bank estimated at about $ 45 million per day, and other estimates indicate that the losses of companies and individuals in Sudan, whose businesses are connected to the Internet, exceeded the $ 750 million mark.

5- Avoiding the practice of cheating during academic exams

This is what Algeria and Iraq have resorted to in the past two years. For example, in 2018, the Algerian government cut off the Internet via fixed or mobile phones, an hour before the general secondary (baccalaureate) exams in the morning and noon, to ensure that the exams are running, so that students at the entrance to each examination center undergo a rigorous inspection of the metal detector, and also put Jamming and surveillance cameras at the question-printing centers.

The 2016 session witnessed a widespread fraud on social media sites before or at the beginning of each exam, which allowed the late to benefit from this, which contributed to increasing social discontent against the government during the last months of the rule of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. This was repeated in Iraq in 2019, whereby the Ministry of Communications determined to disconnect the Internet during conducting secondary exams for only two hours, and then governments resort to that partial disconnect for fear of attempts to weaken their legitimacy, whether in an intended or unintended manner.

Other angles

Other than that, the influence of the Internet has appeared in the region's interactions from other angles. The Lebanese demonstrated in the second half of October 2019, after the government approved financial fees for free communications via phone applications, and directed them to impose other taxes in order to provide new revenues to the state treasury in light of the suffocating economic crisis facing it, taking into account that the cost of communications in Lebanon is From above in the region, protesters ’demands have risen from dropping taxes to dropping the system.

Internet generation

It can be said that the Internet has become a weapon for the forces of protest and change in the countries of the region, as a promoter or documenter of what is happening, especially in light of the simultaneous regional context of these protests, as it exists in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq, and it crosses the confines of sectarianism. However, some social networking sites are not exclusive to protesters, but may make it easier for governments to track activists ’trends and plans, and the latter can intervene in those sites by trying to divert discussion trends, by pushing people to write supportive comments critical of protest forces. However, the Internet cannot be silenced in the Middle East, to the extent that some governments cut it partially and for specific hours, to prevent cheating in the seasons of exams. A new generation in the Middle East has been forming for years, we can call it "the Internet generation", in an era that is no longer In it, governments have a media monopoly.

Some of the governments behind the internet cut are aiming to prevent the increase in the number of protests taking place in cities and governorates within them, undermine the campaigns aiming to mobilize for a new wave of protests, and invoke protection of national security, and limit fake news, especially in light of activists' movement to spread their messages at home, and facilitate their organization Quick contact between them, exchanging news, and reassuring the protesters that they are not alone.

Losses due to the Internet cut off applications of taxi companies that operate exclusively on the Internet. The embargo also affected travel and tourism agencies whose services had almost completely ceased. Therefore, most tourism companies in a number of Iraqi governorates have reduced the salaries of their employees.