After thousands of Cubans took to the streets on Sunday in a rare display of frustration with the authoritarian regime, the government on Monday shut down social media and messaging apps, making it impossible for people to share videos and information in the troubled island.
Service interruptions continued through Tuesday and early Wednesday, with people complaining on social media that cellphone data connections were down in some areas. Dissident journalist Yoani Sanchez, who posts daily commentary about Cuba on her social media channels, said midday Wednesday she was relieved to have her internet connection back to share with her followers her analysis of the last few days in the island.
“After the tremendous blackout we had in the past couple of days we can once again talk about this question that so many people are asking — what’s happening in Cuba?” she said during a podcast, adding that repression continues, with heavy military presence on the streets and “thousands of people detained.” She wondered if there would be further internet disruptions this week as reports of arrests continued to come to light and at least one death had been confirmed.
The demonstrations, the biggest in decades, appeared to have started in a small town southwest of Havana and spontaneously expanded to cities in several provinces, a massive show of dissent in a country where unauthorized public gatherings are illegal. The internet was essential in helping people spread the word about the rallies.
NetBlocks, a London-based nonprofit that monitors internet access, said the Cuban government restricted access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp starting on Monday, and that disruptions were ongoing on Tuesday. The organization said the targeted restrictions limited the flow of information to and from Cuba.
“NetBlocks metrics show that communications platforms WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and as well as some Telegram servers are disrupted on government-owned ETECSA including Cubacel, the cellular network operated by Cuba’s sole telecommunications company. Findings corroborate user reports of disruptions to the services,” said a statement on the organization’s website.
Blocking access to the internet to crack down on dissent is not unusual in Cuba. It’s a tactic that has been used on varying scales before, including a massive data blackout in January after a group of about 30 artists gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture to demand greater civil liberties.
The Cuban government can do that because it owns Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba, or ETECSA, which controls Cubacel, the sole cellular network and data provider. The telecommunications company owns all internet and telecommunications infrastructure in the country, so it can control traffic and decide on targeted disruptions.
Because every single device accessing the internet has a unique number, ETECSA operators can move all those numbers to a blacklist, the same way companies can block employees from accessing certain websites that are considered inappropriate or against company policy.
The Cuban government can also target specific applications and service providers like WhatsApp and Facebook by moving them to the blacklist on the local internet infrastructure, said Lokesh Ramamoorthi, an expert in cybersecurity and a lecturer at the University of Miami.
“The fact that the entire infrastructure is essentially controlled by Cuba’s Communications Ministry means they can move users or sites to the blacklist whenever they want, and that is what leads to disruptions and data blackouts,” he said.
It’s possible that the government sought to restrict the sharing of information on Monday when it was carrying out dozens of arrests in the aftermath of the massive protests, and when families were searching for news on relatives that had been detained late on Sunday, said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
She said the government was likely surprised by the scale of the protests on Sunday and decided to censor communication and the sharing of information by Cubans in an attempt to discredit the “very clear dissatisfaction” with the regime.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said during a press conference on Tuesday that internet disruptions were due to power blackouts in parts of Cuba, but didn’t elaborate.
“It’s true that there is no [internet] data” but those used for medical needs, he said, repeating that those problems as well as food shortages and electricity blackouts were caused by the U.S. embargo.
Internet access in Cuba is expensive and relatively a new thing. Though Cuba went online in the 1990s, the island had very limited connection until 2008, when it expanded access to private ownership of computers. Then, in December 2018 the public finally got access to mobile internet through data plans offered solely by the state telecommunications monopoly.
Only in mid-2019 did Cuba legalize private Wi-Fi in homes and businesses, although one must still obtain a permit to have access. The country also allowed Cubans to import routers and networking equipment.
