Network shutdowns reach record levels as Vodafone calls for stronger safeguards

A new Vodafone report - Network Shutdowns in a Connected World – highlights how the growing use of shutdowns goes beyond information blackouts to impose increasingly severe social, economic and security costs while often failing to achieve the policy objectives governments seek to deliver.

Over the last decade, the frequency, duration and financial cost of network shutdowns have markedly increased.

• In 2025, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition recorded at least 313 deliberate internet shutdowns across 52 countries, making it the worst year on record.
• There were 47% more hours of full internet blackouts in 2025 than in 2024, and 66% more hours of single platform social media shutdowns.
• In 2025, around 800 million people were affected by deliberate internet or network restrictions
• Based on modelling of major shutdown events, the global economic cost of internet shutdowns in 2025 is estimated at nearly USD 20 billion. Losses are disproportionately concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.

Many shutdowns have extended for days, weeks or months, cutting entire communities off simultaneously from domestic and international communications, emergency services, education platforms and financial systems.

In response to the growth of shutdowns, Vodafone has presented a proposed new Transparent Governance Framework to ensure any connectivity restriction is lawful, necessary, proportionate and subject to independent oversight.

Joakim Reiter, Chief External & Corporate Affairs Officer at Vodafone Group said: “Blanket network shutdowns are never proportionate. But the global scale of shutdowns continues to grow, causing severe and far-reaching consequences for economies and public services. As reliance on connectivity grows, so does the harm and erosion in public trust when it is disrupted.

“Governments must re-examine their use of internet restrictions and strengthen their safeguards, including wider coordinated action across industry, regulators and civil society. That’s why we’ve set out a practical goernance framework to improve transparency, accountability and discipline around shutdowns, ensuring people can remain connected when it matters most.”

The wider impacts of network shutdowns

Vodafone’s Network Shutdowns in a Connected World report brings together a series of expert perspectives to provide a clear, evidence-based assessment on the social, economic and security impacts network shutdowns at the local and global scale.

Taken together, the analysis shows network shutdowns have far-reaching and often unintended consequences that can undermine the very goals governments seek to achieve. Across the independent contributions, a consistent picture emerges.

Social impact: Network shutdowns cause immediate disruption to essential services, affecting healthcare, education, public safety and livelihoods at the same time. The harm also falls disproportionately on low-income households, rural communities and other vulnerable groups, who are often least able to access alternative means of communication or support.

Security impact: The security rationale for network shutdowns is frequently overstated. And rather than improving public safety or national security, shutdowns can hinder emergency communications, weaken cyber security monitoring and create information vacuums that allow misinformation to spread more easily.

Economic impact: The analysis finds clear evidence that network shutdowns impose significant economic costs, reducing economic activity across sectors and markets. As economies become more digitally connected, the impact grows, with repeated and targeted shutdowns generating substantial cumulative losses while delivering little evidence of achieving their intended policy objectives.

Addressing the policy challenge

The report recognises that governments have legitimate responsibilities to protect national security and public safety, and that narrowly targeted, time-bound connectivity restrictions may be justified in exceptional circumstances.

However, any such measures must be lawful, necessary, proportionate and transparent, whilst subject to independent oversight.

In many countries, network restrictions are also imposed without clear legal frameworks or robust accountability mechanisms. Governments should clearly demonstrate why measures are necessary, proportionate and time-limited, while minimising unintended impacts on society and the digital economy.

Vodafone’s Transparent Governance Framework

To address this and contribute to the debate, Network Shutdowns in a Connected World presents a Transparent Governance Framework under which any network shutdown should be considered only as an exceptional measure of last resort.

This Framework states that shutdowns can be justified only where there is a clear legal basis, a legitimate public policy objective, and robust evidence demonstrating that the measure is necessary to address a specific and credible threat.

The framework further requires governments to demonstrate that no less restrictive alternative is available and that the expected benefits outweigh the social, economic and security harms. If a shutdown fails any of these tests, it should not proceed.

The Framework would also establish stronger procedural safeguards before, during and after any restriction is imposed, including written orders, independent oversight, regular reviews, access to judicial challenge, and public reporting on the rationale, impact and effectiveness of any measure.

Only where all legal, necessity, proportionality and accountability tests are satisfied should a shutdown even be considered, and then only on a narrowly targeted and time-limited basis.

The full Network Shutdowns in a Connected World report can be downloaded here.