Zimbabwe has been protesting massively since mid-January as food and gas have become too expensive. The latter has doubled in price - from $ 1, 4 to $ 3, 3. Due to the protests, local officials forced ISPs to turn off the Internet. In case of refusal - prison. Interestingly, the Zimbabwean security ministry decision was not publicly announced. This initiative resulted in a loss of $ 17 million. For a country that has been in crisis for a long time, this is a huge amount.
So, Zimbabwe has added to the list of those countries that are blocking access to the network for political reasons, and in order to fight the discontent of the masses. This list, by the way, is constantly growing. 2019 will not be an exception, experts say.
By the way, blocking the Internet is pretty simple. It is necessary to order providers to simultaneously disconnect connections to all users.
Protests in Zimbabwe
Protests in the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare, began on January 14, as soon as President Mnangagwa flew to Moscow to ask for help in solving the economic crisis in the country. The protesters accused the president of not keeping his promises to stabilize food and gasoline prices.
It all started with barricades and burning tires, and ended in direct clashes with the police. 12 people have already died and at least one of them is a policeman, more than six hundred people have been arrested.
Zimbabwe's leaders say the protesters are terrorists and the opposition is to blame.
The internet shutdown hit those who were not involved in the protests in the first place. These are ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe who have lost the ability to pay for communal services online. Basically, here they pay for housing and communal services daily, and not for a month in advance. Therefore, the inhabitants of the country are now sitting without light. No money, no electricity.
Hackers joined the protests
However, the disconnection of the Internet did not help - the protests continued. Protesters are smashing shops and taking food off the shelves. Police officers cannot deal with vandals because their salaries and the number of working days have been cut. Therefore, law enforcement officers are simply not enough.
The Zimbabwean authorities were unprepared for the consequences of the internet shutdown, so they eventually resumed access to the network on January 19. But social networks remain blocked. As a result, anonymous hackers launched a massive DDoS attack on government websites. They also promise to disrupt the banking system. Thus, hackers intend to fight against "repression and tyranny" - this is how they characterize what is happening in the country.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that hackers have been involved in a political struggle. During the Arab Spring, the Internet was completely blocked in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other countries. If you look at the graphs of Internet traffic in these countries over that period, it will look like stairs that go up and then abruptly break off.
Then one of the branches of Anonymous - Telecomix supported the Arabs. In particular, hackers helped them establish dial-up, issued manuals on how to bypass access blockages, and maintained pages on social networks on behalf of the revolutionaries.
In the end, the Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruled that the Internet shutdown decision violated the country's constitution.
The trend is picking up steam
Disconnecting the Internet for political purposes is gaining more and more popularity around the world. According to CNN, 75 such cases were recorded in 2016. In 2017 - 108, and last year - 188. Most of the blackouts occurred in Asia. However, in Europe, 12 cases of the total number of locks were recorded.
