NetBlocks, which monitors internet usage across the world, reported on Wednesday that an “hour-long partial network disruption in Iraq potentially impacting protest coverage in Baghdad and southern provinces.”
Internet blackouts are a commonly used tactic by governments across the world to suppress dissent. The Iraqi government implemented a near-total Internet blackout during 2019 protests in October and November that targeted corruption, nepotism, unemployment, and lack of basic services.
The strategy severs the connection between Iraqi protesters and the rest of the world and makes it difficult for journalists and social media users to report what is happening on the ground.
Iraqis on Twitter used the #KeepItOn hashtag to oppose the weakening service.
Here is one example of demonstrations in Samawa Province (Muthanna) condemning the assassination of al-Wazni, activist & CoR candidate, while @IraqiGovt suspected to slows internet connections aiming to block communication between activists.#KeepitOn
— Yousif al-Hashimi | يوسف الهاشمي (@YousifHashimi) May 11, 2021
pic.twitter.com/extalsRaVo
Fresh protests broke out following the assassination of prominent activist Ihab al-Wazni on Sunday. His death has been widely condemned, including by foreign diplomats in Iraq. Iranian-backed militias are largely accused by the public of being behind the murder.
Protesters started fires on Sunday at the entrance to the Iranian consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala.
A day after Wazni’s assassination, there was an assassination attempt on Iraqi journalist Ahmed Hassan. He was hit with two bullets to the head, and underwent surgery.
Since the start of the protest movement in October 2019, dozens of activists have been assassinated, and some have been kidnapped and tortured. The killers continue to act with impunity, with investigations having yielded little result.
There have been 81 attempted assassinations of activists since anti-government protests began in October 2019, according to Ali al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi High Commission of Human Rights. Thirty-four activists have been killed.
Some activists and journalists have called for a campaign to boycott October parliamentary elections, saying they will be corrupted and taken over by militias.
The Embassy of the Netherlands to Iraq and member of the Iraqi Parliament's Security and Defense Committee, Badr al-Ziyadi, also warned of election interference.
