For all its vast infrastructure and apparent complexity, the internet can be switched off with startling ease. During Uganda’s 2021 general elections, this reality became clear when authorities imposed a total internet blackout, cutting off communication, disrupting businesses, and restricting access to information nationwide.
As Uganda approaches another electoral cycle, concerns have resurfaced that similar measures could be taken again.
However, in a joint press conference held this week by the ICT Ministry Permanent Secretary, Aminah Zawedde, and Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director, Nyombi Thembo, publicly dismissed these fears, denying any plans to shut down the internet and describing reports suggesting otherwise as misleading.
The government officials emphasised that there is no intention to disrupt internet services during the upcoming election period.
In response to inquiries about network readiness ahead of Uganda’s general elections, Airtel Uganda told CEO East Africa Magazine that it is “ready to deliver an even superior service” to Ugandans across the country.
The company highlighted its significant network investments over the years with over 360 5G sites across the country.
MTN Uganda did not respond to CEO East Africa Magazine’s inquiries by press time.
Despite these assurances, past experience and global trends continue to fuel public anxiety over the potential use of internet restrictions as a tool of control during politically sensitive moments.
Internet outages typically take the form of total internet blackouts or social media blocks.
Closer to this is internet throttling, where internet speeds are restricted so severely that anything beyond simple text-based communication or live streaming of a video becomes impossible.
This article explores how governments across the world and Internet Service Providers use a number of methods to implement internet restrictions.
It is based on recent research published by TOP10VPN, an independent Virtual Private Network review website that tracks internet disruptions across the globe in its updated 2025 report, Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns.
Network Shutdown
This is perhaps the crudest method of blocking access to the internet. It occurs when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mobile carriers literally power down critical circuits or paths that make up a country’s telecommunications network.
Governments that have complete control over their national networks may also install an internet kill switch, a concept involving the activation of a single shut-off mechanism for all internet traffic within a country. The idea behind such a kill switch is to create a single point of control under one authority to manage or shut down internet access in order to protect the network or its users.
Border Gateway Protocol Manipulation
An internet service provider can make the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of some or all of its customers disappear from the internet, effectively cutting off access for those users.
An Internet Protocol address is a unique numerical identifier assigned to a device on the Internet, allowing devices to find and communicate with one another. This method is more precise than a full network shutdown and allows for exceptions to be made, such as maintaining access for government officials or essential services.
Internet Protocol Address Blocking
Websites and applications rely on web servers to host their content, each of which has its own Internet Protocol address. Because multiple websites and services can be hosted on a single address, blocking at this level often leads to unintentionally restricting access to more content than intended.
Internet service providers can compile lists of Internet Protocol addresses associated with services they wish to block and then prevent all traffic to or from those addresses.
Domain Name System Filtering
A domain name is the destination users type into a web browser, such as www.google.com.
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Domain Name System filtering is more precise than Internet Protocol blocking because it targets the domain name itself rather than the underlying address.
Browsers rely on intermediate systems known as Domain Name System resolvers to look up web addresses and retrieve the corresponding Internet Protocol addresses.
Internet service providers can manipulate these resolvers to return incorrect information for specific domains, such as indicating that a platform does not exist. When this happens, users encounter error pages instead of the intended websites or applications.
Deep Packet Inspection
Deep packet inspection examines the full contents of data packets travelling across a network, allowing authorities to block specific content, services, or applications.
This method relies on devices positioned between the end user and the wider internet, commonly referred to as middleboxes. These devices play a central role in internet censorship in countries such as China. Manufacturers of this technology include companies like Huawei and Allot.
Deep packet inspection is also effective at reducing or blocking speeds for specific types of traffic, such as video streaming or Voice Over Internet Protocol services. As a result, users often turn to virtual private networks to attempt to bypass these restrictions.
The Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns
Governments around the world imposed a record number of internet shutdowns in 2025, inflicting an estimated USD 19.7 billion in economic losses and affecting nearly 800 million people, according to TOP10VPN.
The report documents 212 major government-imposed internet outages across 28 countries, the highest number recorded in a single year.
Internet shutdowns took several forms, including complete nationwide blackouts, targeted social media blocks, and severe throttling effectively preventing the use of modern web services such as video streaming and live broadcasts.
According to TOP10VPN, throttling has re-emerged as a preferred tactic for governments seeking to suppress online activity without the visibility of outright shutdowns. While it represents a smaller share of total disruption time, its impact often mirrors that of a full blackout.
Russia was the most economically affected country, accounting for USD 11.9 billion in losses. Authorities imposed 57 separate shutdowns, combining nationwide blackouts, selective service restrictions, and sophisticated technical interference designed to limit access to foreign platforms while preserving limited domestic connectivity.
Beyond Russia, Venezuela recorded losses of USD 1.91 billion, followed by Myanmar at USD 1.89 billion and Pakistan at USD 1.13 billion. Tanzania lost nearly USD 890 million, while Myanmar and Equatorial Guinea experienced some of the longest outages, lasting the equivalent of an entire year.
Social media platforms were frequent targets. X, formerly Twitter, was the most disrupted service, followed by Telegram andTikTok. WhatsApp and Facebook were also repeatedly restricted.
The report notes a significant shift in motivations behind shutdowns. For the first time, information control overtook elections, protests, and conflict as the dominant justification.
Shutdowns imposed solely for information control resulted in USD 14.91 billion in losses.
Regionally, Europe recorded the highest economic impact at USD 11.99 billion, driven largely by Russia. Asia followed with USD 3.67 billion and the highest number of affected users. Sub-Saharan Africa recorded USD 1.11 billion in losses.
TOP10VPN concludes that unless governments face stronger accountability for the economic and social costs of shutdowns, deliberate internet disruptions are likely to remain a normalised tool of governance, despite their far-reaching consequences.
Some tech analysts argue that businesses should think of continuity by setting up recovery sites in safer locations.
