Network data from NetBlocks confirm a significant disruption to internet service in Kazakhstan from the evening of Tuesday 4 January 2022, progressing to a nation-scale communications blackout on Wednesday afternoon.
The disruptions come amid widening protests against sudden energy price rises that started on the weekend in the western town of Zhanaozen.
⚠️ Confirmed: #Kazakhstan is now in the midst of a nation-scale internet blackout after a day of mobile internet disruptions and partial restrictions.
The incident is likely to severely limit coverage of escalating anti-government protests.
? Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/pdHJkJFe7v
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 5, 2022
Internet connectivity was largely restored on Monday 10 January after 8 a.m. local time, only to be cut again some hours later:
⚠️ Update: #Kazakhstan is again in the midst of a near-total internet blackout following a partial restoration of service earlier today.
The information vacuum continues to limit human rights monitoring and coverage of incidents on the ground.
? Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/UQI3sVox1D
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 10, 2022
Earlier, a brief partial restoration of connectivity was observed while President Tokayev gave a televised speech appealing for assistance from citizens and a Russia-led security bloc to help “save the state,” after which internet service was cut again in the early hours of Thursday morning:
⚠️ Confirmed: #Kazakhstan is again in the midst of a nation-scale internet blackout as of early morning Thursday.
While service was available, President Tokayev gave a televised speech appealing to Russia for assistance to "protect the state."
? Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/yidAooRRoi
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 5, 2022
The disruption continued until Monday morning, with national connectivity observed at just 5% of ordinary levels, hindering independent media and human rights reporting:
⚠️ Update: It's Sunday morning in #Kazakhstan where internet has now been cut for some 80 hours.
News from the country is scarce as President Tokayev orders troops to fire at "terrorists" without warning amid ongoing anti-government protests.
? Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/YKkqDGsyFf
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 8, 2022
⚠️ Update: It's now Saturday morning in #Kazakhstan, where internet has been cut for some 60 hours.
The blackout has produced an information vacuum as anti-government protests escalate, hindering independent media and human rights monitors.
? Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/30tX0eqB5t
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 7, 2022
The ongoing disruptions have placed public safety at risk per human rights monitors and left friends and family out of touch.
⚠️ Update: It's now Friday morning in #Kazakhstan where internet has been shut down for some 36 hours, placing public safety at risk and leaving friends and family cut off.
Connectivity levels continue to flatline at just 5% of ordinary levels.
?Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/xQIYdZVhbK
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 6, 2022
The initial incident had high impact to mobile services and some fixed-lines from Tuesday, while the blackout beginning around 5 p.m. local time Wednesday affects almost all connectivity in the country.
⚠️ Update: Live metrics show that #Kazakhstan's leading mobile internet services Kcell, Beeline and Tele2 remain significantly disrupted on Wednesday morning as President Tokayev declares a state of emergency amid widening anti-government protests ?
? https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/EtO59yAX5n
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 5, 2022
What’s happening in Kazakhstan?
Protests against rising energy prices were held in Kazakhstan for the third consecutive day at incident onset, with many demonstrators speaking out against the country’s leadership. The disruption is likely to limit the public’s ability to express political discontent and communicate freely.
Thousands are participating in the protests, which were sparked by the lifting of price caps on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) over the New Year.
This class of internet disruption affects connectivity at the network layer and cannot always be worked around with the use of circumvention software or VPNs. The blackout has also resulted in the international loss of access to websites and services hosted in Kazakhstan, including government and news websites.
Kazakhstan has a history of internet restrictions to control protests, with previous nation-scale communication restrictions documented by NetBlocks during elections and the country’s Victory day.
Further reading:
- Kazakh protesters torch public buildings, emergency declared, Cabinet resigns – Reuters
- Reports: Protesters in Kazakhstan storm city mayor’s office – Associated Press
- Kazakhstan Sees ‘Nation-scale Internet Blackout’ Amid Protests – AFP
- Kazakhstan Reportedly Hit By Internet Blackout As Oil-Rich Nation Breaks Out In Rare Anti-Government Protests – Forbes
- Kazakhstan shut down the internet as violent fuel-price protests rock the country and force out the government – Business Insider
- Kazakhstan leaders shut down internet amid gas price protests – ZDNet
- Kazakhstan’s president vows ‘robust’ response to protests – Al Jazeera
- Kazakhstan unrest: Internet cut amid fuel protests – BBC News
- Internet turned off in Kazakhstan – RIA Novosti
- NetBlocks: Internet restricted in Kazakhstan – Azattyk
Previously:
- Toqaev Inaugurated As Kazakhstan’s President Amid New Arrests – RFE/RL
- Kazakhstan’s move to control internet prompts censorship, surveillance concerns – Committee to Protect Journalists
Methodology
NetBlocks diffscans, which map the IP address space of a country in real time, show internet connectivity levels and corresponding outages. Purposeful internet outages may have a distinct network pattern used by NetBlocks to determine and attribute the root cause of an outage, a process known as attribution which follows detection and classification stages.
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