As Cubans took to the streets to protest the country's worst economic crisis in decades, authorities blocked social media sites. It's a tried-and-true method of stifling dissent by authoritarian regimes around the world.
By BARBARA ORTUTAY, FRANK BAJAK and TALI ARBELAnti-government protesters march in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, July 11, 2021. As Cubans facing the country's worst economic crisis in decades took to the streets in droves over the weekend into Monday, July 12, 2021, authorities blocked social media sites in an apparent effort to stop the flow of information into, out of and within the beleaguered nation.
There was no formal organizer of Sunday’s protests; people found out about the rallying points over social media, mostly on Twitter and Facebook, the platforms most used by Cubans. The thousands of Cubans who took to the streets — protesters and pro-government activists alike — wielded smartphones to capture images and send them to relatives and friends or post them online.
Many Cubans now have real-time, anywhere-you-are access to the internet and the ability to share information among themselves, he added. Since early 2019, this access has facilitated regular, if smaller, events and protests on the island. In response, the government has periodically shut down access to social media, mostly to hide its repressive tactics from both citizens and foreigners, he said.
López-Levy, who grew up a few blocks from Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, said the country’s current leader has embraced the economic potential of digital technology far more than his predecessors, but may have calculated that a large segment of Cubans will accept a temporary internet shutdown if it helps restore order in the streets.
This year has also seen disruptions in Armenia, Uganda, Iran, Chad, Senegal and the Republic of Congo.
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