During conflict, phone and internet service can disappear because authorities deliberately restrict it, because a service is blocked or slowed, or because fighting disrupts networks, electricity, fuel, or repairs. Those causes are not interchangeable—and no consumer device can be relied on to restore communications in every blackout.
What counts as an internet or phone shutdown?
The #KeepItOn coalition, via Access Now’s campaign explainer, defines an intentional shutdown as “an intentional disruption of internet or electronic communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information.” In everyday use, however, people may call any loss of service a shutdown, including an outage caused by damage or power failure. The distinction matters when identifying what happened and who was responsible.
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| Condition | What it means | What may still work |
|---|---|---|
| Full shutdown | Connectivity is broadly lost across a provider, area, or country. | Other providers, fixed broadband, or services outside the affected area may or may not remain available; the impact depends on the incident. |
| Throttling | Service is deliberately slowed, potentially to the point that it is effectively unusable. | Some connections or services may still load, but slowly or unreliably. |
| Platform or service blocking | A particular app, website, or two-way messaging service is restricted. | Other internet access may remain available. |
| Infrastructure or power failure | Damage, cyberattacks, fuel or electricity shortages, blocked equipment imports, or inability to reach and repair equipment disrupts service. | Availability depends on which network components and power sources remain intact. This kind of outage is not, by itself, proof of an ordered shutdown. |
Mobile service and fixed broadband can be affected differently. A disruption may be limited to a neighborhood or extend across a country, and it can affect people outside the territory of the authority imposing it. The cause and scope must be established for each incident rather than inferred from the word “shutdown.”
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Why does phone service stop during a war?
Some interruptions are deliberate: authorities may order providers to disconnect service, interfere with networks, throttle connections, or block selected services. Others follow from the conditions of fighting. Airstrikes can damage towers and cables; fiber can be severed; cyberattacks can affect systems; fuel and power can run short; equipment imports can be blocked; and repair crews may be unable to reach damaged sites safely.
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These causes can overlap. A damaged network may also face fuel shortages or restrictions on repairs. A report of lost service alone does not establish whether the cause was a government order, physical damage, or a combination. Access Now’s 2025 conflict typology documents both deliberate restrictions and outages linked to infrastructure, fuel, and repair constraints.
How often are conflict-related shutdowns recorded?
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s report, When repression meets resistance: internet shutdowns in 2025, published 31 March 2026, recorded the following. The report describes documented events, not a census of every disruption, and says the underlying dataset may be updated as further information becomes available.
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| 2025 measure | Documented count | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Shutdowns worldwide | 313 in 52 countries | Access Now and #KeepItOn coalition documented total for 2025. |
| Conflict-related shutdowns | 125 across 14 countries; 40% of the global documented total | Coalition classification for 2025. |
| Shutdowns coinciding with grave human-rights abuses | 70 | “Coinciding” is the report’s classification; it does not establish that shutdowns caused each abuse. |
| Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet shutdowns | 14 across seven countries | Coalition count for 2025, compared with four in 2024; satellite internet is not immune to interference. |
For its STOP tracker, Access Now uses first-hand accounts, news reports, official orders, traffic measurements, and other technical evidence. Its methodology, last updated 30 March 2026, counts a shutdown instance when a disruption lasts longer than one hour, or when a series of disruptions is attributed to similar circumstances, justifications, methods, and perpetrators. That is the tracker’s method—not a universal standard used by every monitor.
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When communications fail, the consequences go beyond losing access to social media. People may be unable to contact family or emergency services, find missing relatives, receive potentially life-saving information, reach humanitarian assistance, or document human-rights violations. Access Now’s conflict typology draws on testimony from Gaza and Sudan and describes direct and indirect harms to civilians.
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A connection that is merely slow, or a single blocked app, can still leave some communication possible; a wider outage may remove several routes at once. In either case, a device that has power cannot connect through a network that is unavailable, and an information gap should not be mistaken for evidence that events have stopped.
What do Gaza and Sudan show—and what do they not prove?
Gaza: restrictions and damage can compound
Access Now’s 2025 typology describes repeated outages and infrastructure targeting in Gaza, including provider service loss, severed cables, destroyed towers, fuel constraints, and risks to repair work. UN OCHA’s updates from 2024 also described local mobile operators and internet service providers facing outages amid escalating hostilities, infrastructure damage, fuel shortages, and inability to make repairs. These accounts illustrate why an outage may have several contributing causes; they should not be treated as a description of every incident or of current conditions.
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OCHA’s 20–26 May 2024 update said that, since 7 October 2023, Israeli authorities had approved import into Gaza of 20 satellite phones, four VHF repeaters, and 30 VHF handheld radios. Its 24 June–7 July 2024 update also mentioned 30 VHF digital radios and four solar power solutions. These are dated figures about a particular humanitarian operation and import context—not measures of consumer availability or present-day permissions.
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Access Now’s 2025 typology describes nationwide shutdowns and later network control and interruption in Sudan. It reports that connectivity loss cut people off from essential communications and services. The example shows the breadth an interruption can reach; it does not mean that every outage in Sudan, or in another conflict, had the same cause.
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Can satellite phones, radios, or batteries work during a blackout?
They may provide a route for a specific operation if the relevant system is available, powered, permitted, and functioning, but the evidence does not establish a universally dependable backup device. The options provide different services and rely on different infrastructure:
| Option | Service it can provide | Key dependencies and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile phone | Voice, text, and internet through a cellular network. | Requires a functioning local network and power. A phone cannot restore a disabled or damaged network. |
| Fixed broadband | Internet access through a fixed connection. | Requires working local infrastructure and power; it may be affected differently from mobile service. |
| Satellite phone or satellite internet | Voice through satellite-phone systems, or internet through satellite systems. | Requires an available, functioning system and any locally required permission. Access Now’s 2025 report documented LEO satellite internet shutdowns, so satellite connectivity is not guaranteed to bypass restrictions. |
| Radio | A radio may receive broadcasts; VHF radio systems can support communications within a configured operation. | Coverage, equipment, power, and local availability matter. Receiving a broadcast is not the same as two-way phone service or internet. |
| Battery or solar power solution | Power for a compatible device. | It can help only if the device and the network or communications system it needs are working. |
OCHA’s Gaza updates illustrate that radios, repeaters, satellite phones, and solar power solutions have been part of a specific humanitarian response. Access Now’s record of satellite internet disruptions illustrates that alternatives can themselves be restricted. Neither fact supports assuming that particular equipment will work, be allowed, or be safe to carry in another location.
What can people do to assess an outage and seek information?
- Look for the scope, not just the label. Check whether reports describe mobile service, fixed broadband, one provider, a particular platform, or a wider area. Partial connectivity and a total blackout are different conditions.
- Use credible local emergency and humanitarian instructions. Which channels remain reachable depends on the location and incident; this evidence does not establish one universally available source or device.
- Check attribution carefully. A service loss may be intentional, damage-related, or caused by several interacting factors. Treat claims about responsibility as claims unless supported by evidence.
- Do not assume a purchase is a workaround. A battery cannot reconnect a disabled network, a radio does not recreate internet access, and satellite equipment is not immune to disruption. Follow current local rules and guidance rather than carrying or importing regulated communications equipment based on generic advice.
Access Now’s STOP methodology combines technical and qualitative evidence and records attributed events that meet its criteria. Its totals are useful for tracking documented patterns, but they can change as information is updated and do not capture every outage worldwide.
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