NetBlocks is a watchdog organization that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the Internet. The service was launched in 2017 to monitor Internet freedom.

Work

Projects

NetBlocks publishes original reporting on Internet governance and

sustainable energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as green ...

, providing tools to the public to observe possible Internet restrictions and to estimate the economic consequences of network disruptions. NetBlocks has established a high level of trust in communities around the world, facilitating the spread of information during emergencies and Internet censorship events, according to peer-reviewed research published in the scientific journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''.

Events

On 25 November 2017, NetBlocks and the

Digital Rights Foundation Nighat Dad ( ur, ; born ) is a Pakistani lawyer and Internet activist who runs the not-for-profit organisation Digital Rights Foundation. Her work in the field of IT security has earned her many international awards. Early life and education D ...

provided information about the nationwide censorship of Facebook,

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and other social media services by the Pakistani government following the Tehreek-e-Labaik protests. During the 2018–2019 Sudanese protests, NetBlocks stated that the Sudanese government maintains "an extensive Internet censorship regime" following the censorship of social media websites in the country. Following the 2019 Gabonese coup d'état attempt, NetBlocks monitored censorship in the country. The cost of the three-day Internet shutdown following the Zimbabwean fuel protests was also calculated to cost

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

an estimated $17 million. The block of Wikipedia in Venezuela and other censorship incidents during the

Venezuelan presidential crisis The Venezuelan presidential crisis is an ongoing political crisis concerning the leadership and the legitimate president of Venezuela; the office of the president has been contested since 10 January 2019, with the nation and the world divide ...

were also monitored by NetBlocks, with several international media outlets covering the situation with NetBlocks' work. In July 2020, as the Somalian Parliament passed a motion of no confidence in

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Hassan Ali Khaire, NetBlocks reported that Internet access had been disrupted impeding media coverage of political and public reactions to events on the ground, presenting evidence contradicting network operator

Hormuud Telecom Hormuud Telecom Somalia Inc. is a privately held telecommunications company based in Mogadishu, Somalia. It is the largest telecommunication company and largest private-sector employer in the country, and also Somalia's first private enterpris ...

's claim that the outage was due to "windy conditions." From February 2022, NetBlocks set up a reporting initiative providing extensive coverage on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, documenting Russian efforts to disable communications at nuclear sites and in conflict zones.

References

{{reflist Internet censorship Information technology organizations Organizations established in 2017