A new study has revealed the unprecedented scale and impact of Bangladesh’s longest-ever internet shutdown during the student-led uprising of July-August 2024. The blackout over the 22 days, which lasted from July 15 to August 5, coincided with mass protests, the killing of hundreds of demonstrators, and widespread human rights violations. While Bangladesh has experienced multiple shutdowns since 2009, this episode marked a significant escalation in state control over digital communications.
The research, conducted by Digitally Right Limited in collaboration with the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), reconstructs a verified timeline of the shutdown, mapping how it was enforced across various network layers and assessing its implications for accountability, rights, and access to information during political crises.
Drawing on news coverage, technical data from international monitoring bodies, and interviews with service providers and authorities, the report segmented the 22-day disruption into five phases, linking each phase to protest milestones and state repression.
The study found that authorities deployed a layered and evolving arsenal of censorship tactics, including nationwide mobile blackouts, broadband throttling, targeted platform blocking, and crackdowns on VPN services such as Proton VPN.
Service providers, including ISPs, International Internet Gateways (IIGs), and mobile operators, were compelled to comply through informal or verbal directives, often via platforms like WhatsApp. The shutdown was characterised by a lack of transparency and fragmented authority, with overlapping roles played by agencies such as the BTRC, NTMC, and DoT.
Crucially, the report observed that the most intense network disruptions coincided with spikes in violence and casualties during the anti-discrimination movement. It underscores that internet shutdowns were not isolated acts but a deliberate, central component of the state’s response to the uprising, aimed at controlling information flow, suppressing dissent, and shaping the public narrative during a period of political turmoil.
