In 2011, a 75 year-old Georgian woman digging for scrap metal cut a fibre optic cable and shut off Internet service to the entire country of Armenia. The government of Sudan shut down the country’s 4 Internet Service Providers in 2013 to help disrupt protests over the cutting of subsidies that doubled the price of gasoline. In 2015, the Republic of the Congo shut off the Internet during a protest over a referendum to extend term limits for the current president. Some people say the United States government is currently working towards a similar aim, better known as the Internet Kill Switch.
Others claim it has already been done. These fear mongers usually quote conspiracy theory and alternative media websites. The kill switch is a perfect target for conspiracies since most people don’t know how the Internet is structured. To them it’s conceivable the government could easily shut it down. If it can be disabled in other countries, why couldn’t it be done here too?
