Cutting the internet doesn’t work

Niqash.org

You can’t stop Iraqis from spreading rumors by blocking their internet access, said Mustafa Habib. Protests over poor public services and widespread corruption that began in southern Iraq have spread across the country in recent weeks. Such demonstrations break out every summer, when the temperatures soar into the 100s and Iraqis get fed up with the “lack of power to refrigerate foods or keep houses cool and the fact that water coming out of the taps is salty.” But this year’s protests are bigger than usual, and the government decided to curtail internet access to prevent angry citizens from sharing images and rallying more people to the cause.

It backfired. Iraqis used VPNs—virtual private networks—to circumvent the blocks and get back online, and then posted about the demonstrations on Facebook. Meanwhile, reputable news sources were unable to post stories online, so much of the information on Facebook was fake. One false report claimed that Sunni soldiers from the north had been sent to subdue Shiite protesters in the south; in fact, all security forces used were local. Cutting internet services “actually contributed to the spread of false news,” said activist Haidar Hamzouz, “and it also became very difficult to inform anyone that certain items were false.”