Citizens Offline: The state, the telecom companies and internet shutdowns
Channel: HSGResearch
Date: 24/04/2019

Who is behind internet shutdowns? This video explains the role of telecom companies in politically-motivated disruptions [by Freyburg, Garbe & Wavre]. Taking the example of the 2016 shutdown during elections in Uganda, the short documentary explains the role of telecom companies in the disruption of access to the internet, ordered by the state government. Governments typically do not directly restrict internet access but order telecom operators to cut access to particular services or entire (sub-)networks. In times where fears spread that access to the internet will be disrupted on polling day during many of the upcoming African elections this year, the video addresses an extremely topical problem.
 
2016-2018. Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS), "Telecommunications Politics in Authoritarian Developing Countries", see https://snis.ch/project/telecommunications-politics-authoritarian-developing-countries/