A demonstration against mobile shutdowns in North Sinai. Banner reads: “We don't want to use Israeli networks because of your neglect.” Photo by Sinai2014/SinaiOutofCoverage group page. When activists in Egypt organized protests against mobile and internet shutdowns in the Northern Sinai region back in 2014, in the “Sinai out of Coverage” campaign, they probably did not expect that it would still be relevant today. But just a few months ago, as the Egyptian army launched another military operation in Egypt's Northern Sinai region, the government once again ordered a region-wide shutdown of internet and telecommunications services. Like so many times over the past five years, the shutdown left residents disconnected from the other parts of Egypt, and the world, and unable to communicate or call for help. In recent years, internet shutdowns have become all too familiar for users in a number of countries, and for digital rights groups documenting them. The issue has gone as far as the United Nations, where the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in June 2016 condemning “measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online in violation of international human rights law.” And the issue is global. In India, the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) documented 70 incidents of regional internet shutdowns in 2017, compared to 31 shutdowns in 2016 and just 14 shutdowns in 2015. So far this year, there have been 40 shutdowns in the country. In Cameroon, for more than a year, internet in the country's Northwest and Southwest Anglophone regions has either been completely cut off or slowed down to a point of uselessness. In Sri Lanka, authorities completely shut down the internet in the district of Kandy in March 2018, in response to acts of sectarian violence. The government blamed social media for spreading hate speech and calls to violence. As far as researchers know, most of these shutdowns have occurred at the behest of government authorities, who order telecommunications companies to press the proverbial ‘kill switch.’ Telecommunications companies usually have little choice but to follow these orders. In some cases, they offer subscribers some explanation of the cut in service. But more often, they don't. New research from Ranking Digital Rights, a nonprofit research initiative that evaluates internet and telecommunications companies’ practices affecting user rights to freedom of expression and privacy, shows that the world's largest telecommunication companies disclose little to no information about their processes for responding to government requests to restrict access to networks or to certain services and platforms. The 2018 Index ranks 10 telecommunications companies and 12 internet companies on a set of 35 human rights indicators designed to measure if and how well companies disclose policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. The Index evaluates policies of the parent company, operating company and those of selected services, depending on company structure. Read about the RDR methodology, research and scoring criteria. In a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), both government and “non-state actors” have ordered internet shutdowns or network disruptions, according to Asser Khattab who covers network shutdowns in the region for Social Media Exchange (SMEX), a Beirut-based media development and digital rights organisation. The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), a network of freedom of expression advocacy groups in Africa, characterized shutdowns as becoming “rampant” in multiple African countries. Shutdowns most often occur in times when public safety or stability are under threat, such as armed conflicts, security operations, protests and political crises. But in these times where safety is of the utmost concern, network shutdowns hinder users’ access to information and communication services at a time when they are most in need. In India, where freedom of expression is in decline, network shutdowns are “yet another blunt instrument” to restrict this fundamental right, Mishi Choudhary, legal director at the SFLC told Global Voices. For instance, as part of the government’s crackdown against independence protests in Kashmir, Indian authorities repeatedly resorted to banning social media platforms and disrupting access to mobile internet networks and the internet, thus limiting residents’ capabilities to communicate, organize and express themselves. In areas of conflict, shutdowns can put people’s lives at risk.