Worldwide, the number of shutdowns is increasing dramatically. There have been 62 shutdowns of the Internet this year – mostly in Asia and Africa – compared with 55 in all of last year and less than 20 in the previous year, according to a database compiled by Access Now, a digital-rights organization.

The shutdowns are often imposed during elections, protests or other crises. Regimes are worried that social media has become an organizing tool for protesters, so they issue orders to mobile-phone providers to shut down access. In many cases, the government itself is a shareholder in the leading telecommunications companies, so the shutdowns are easy to impose.