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Censorship The Internet

Why Has Cameroon Blocked the Internet? (bbc.com) 87

It has been over three weeks since English-speaking parts of Cameroon, a country on the west coast of Africa between Nigeria and Gabon, has had no internet connectivity. Residents believe, according to a BBC report, that the government is behind it. From the report: The two regions affected, South-West and North-West, have seen anti-government protests in recent months. Just a day before services disappeared, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a statement in which it warned social media users of criminal penalties if they were to "issue or spread information, including by way of electronic communications or information technology systems, without any evidence." There has been no official comment about the internet since then (or any credible reports of technical faults) leading many Cameroonians to conclude that the severing of services is part of government attempts to stifle dissent. In criticising their government, some Cameroonians have also taken aim at the mobile phone companies who provide the services through which many access the internet. These firms may not have been able to prevent the outage, since they all rely on fibre-optic infrastructure provided by a state-owned company, but nor have they been objecting publicly about the interruption to their services.
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Why Has Cameroon Blocked the Internet?

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @01:53PM (#53827717)

    Block internet ==> I now know you are not a government worthy of honor or power.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 )

      And you really believe it can only happen in backwater Africa? Think again.

  • by Gilgaron ( 575091 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:08PM (#53827817)
    The ruling politicians sent their political opponents out to investigate the issue, but they never returned for some reason...
  • This can mean only one thing! Invasion!
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Shame on you, ex-British Prime Minister David Cameroon!

  • Mesh Networking (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This is why Mesh networking protocols are so important, we need to get ahead of this here in the U.S. because:

    DT:I can't be live they insulted me on the internet, I want to get rid of that thing.
    Sir you can't just 'get rid' of the internet
    DT:sure I can, I'll just shut it off.
    Sir, there is no way to sut off the internet.
    DT:Do it, shut it off now, it's a matter of national security. ... ...
    click.

  • by whizzard ( 177251 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:44PM (#53828077) Homepage

    It has been over three weeks since English-speaking parts of Cameroon [...] has had no internet connectivity.

    So it's working then?

  • I should laugh about Cameroon's government censorship and feel sad about people affected by it, but then again, just today I heard about some moronic politician in Brazil trying to pass a law that has some extremely broad lines like penalties and fines for anyone who tries to spread "false information" on the Internet... dumbfucks are just everywhere.

  • David thinks if there is no internet, people would not be rabble roused into voting to leave EU. That is why.

    Wait. That is not the Cameron you are talking about right?

  • I wonder if we could convince NATO or some other group to provide free Internet (I guess via satellite, though people would need equipment...) that could help citizens under these oppressive regimes.
  • I'll just wait here for someone to call the Cameroon government right-wing, or start making comparisons to the Trump administration.

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