
Unrest in Gabon leads to Internet shutdown - okket
https://blog.cloudflare.com/unrest-in-gabon-leads-to-internet-shutdown/
======
okket
> Update: September 2, 0945 UTC: the Internet remains disconnected in Gabon.

"Statement by the Secretary-General (UN) on the situation in the Gabonese
Republic" (from yesterday)

[https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2016-09-01/sta...](https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2016-09-01/statement-
secretary-general-situation-gabonese-republic-scroll-down)

    
    
      I call on the government to immediately restore
      communications, especially the Internet, SMS and the
      independent radio and television.
    

"Gabon is the latest African country to shut down its internet as election
protests grow" (~2h ago)

[http://qz.com/771996/gabon-is-the-latest-african-country-
to-...](http://qz.com/771996/gabon-is-the-latest-african-country-to-shut-down-
its-internet-as-election-protests-grow/)

    
    
      The government of Gabon shut down the internet on Wednesday
      (Aug. 31) following the announcement president Ali Bongo
      was re-elected by a slim margin for a second seven-year
      term in office.

~~~
jessaustin
_...a second seven-year term in office._

Wow those are long terms. As obnoxious as a president is after eight years,
after fourteen he must be pretty much intolerable.

~~~
mikeash
I think that's understating things. This guy is the son of the previous
President, who was in office for 42 years. Seems like more of a dynastic
system with a veneer of democracy.

~~~
TheAlchemist
Yep. And the results from the last region were delayed for like 3 days, turned
out to have a 99% participation rate and 99.5% voted for the guy.

------
SeanDav
What options are available to connect to the internet, if your ISP is forced
to shutdown in circumstances like this?

Some years ago, one could use phone lines and dial up modems. Are these still
viable? What about Ham radio?

~~~
John23832
Sat internet, which is pretty common in Africa from my experience.

------
finid
> Unrest in Gabon...

And less than a month ago, I was thinking that Gabon is probably the most
stable country in Africa. Now this.

~~~
sorich87
What about others with a "real" democracy, like Benin, Botswana, Ghana?

~~~
finid
Ghana has had some issues recently related to electricity, but you have a
point with Benin, Botswana, especially, the latter.

------
mdewinter
So how does a country technically shuts down the entire internet? Like this or
what Turkey sometimes does?

~~~
overlordalex
The government orders the ISPs to cut the connections - how they ISPs actually
do it is up to them - whether they power down the routers or simply enable
firewall rules.

EDIT: Here's a relevant article by Cloudflare about the Syrian shut-off:
[https://blog.cloudflare.com/how-syria-turned-off-the-
interne...](https://blog.cloudflare.com/how-syria-turned-off-the-internet/)

