Cuba Is Latest Nation to Restrict Social Media During Protests

Thousands of people across Cuba protested last Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstrations² on the island in decades.

Shortly after the protests began, Cuban officials blocked access to social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram. Such sites are often used in the organizing of political protests.

A London-based internet traffic observer, NetBlocks, said Tuesday that disruption of those social media services continues in Cuba.

"This does seem to be a response to social media-fueled protest," NetBlocks director Alp Toker told The Associated Press.

Thousands of Cubans joined demonstrations in cities and towns across the Caribbean island on Sunday. They were protesting an economic crisis and the government's actions in connection with COVID-19. Some protesters called for an end to Cuba's communist political system.

The country's problems have worsened since the United States increased economic and travel restrictions³ against Cuba during the administration of former President Donald Trump⁴. In 2018, the United Nations estimated that America's longstanding financial and trade restrictions on Cuba had cost the country's economy $130 billion over almost 60 years.

The current economic crisis has led to shortages of food, medicine, and widespread power outages. In addition, a rise in COVID-19 infections and a lack of vaccines⁵ has pushed some hospitals to the edge of collapse⁶.

Cuba's government accuses opponents in the U.S. of organizing the recent political uprising on the island. It also says the U.S. government finances their efforts.

Both anti-government protesters and government supporters took to the streets on Sunday. By Monday, no large crowds were reported, as security forces were deployed⁷ to the streets.

Many protesters had used their phones to capture images to send to others and publish online. But internet access was restricted during the protests and by Monday, the government was blocking most major social media sites except for Twitter, NetBlocks said.

One Cuban citizen discussed the situation over email with VOA Learning English Wednesday. The person asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issues discussed.

The emailer told VOA that internet access had returned in Cuba, but that the system was operating at a very slow speed. And, the person wrote, the only news and information currently available to the Cuban public is that provided by government-owned media.

The individual said the demonstrations were fueled by electricity cuts, shortages of food and medicines and long lines for buying basic necessities. The situation had gotten worse because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Internet access in Cuba has been costly⁸ and mostly rare until fairly recently. Cuba was "basically offline" until 2008, said Ted¹ Henken, a Latin America expert at New York's Baruch College. He told the AP the biggest change came in December 2018, when Cubans got access to mobile internet for the first time. Today, more than half of all Cubans have full internet access, Henken said.

Since early 2019, this access has led to some smaller political events and protests being held on the island. In response, the government sometimes cuts access to social media. Henken says it does so mainly to hide its own repressive actions.

Cuba also restricts independent media within the country and "routinely blocks access within Cuba to many news websites and blogs," Human Rights Watch reports.

Gino Ocumares lives in Havana and spoke⁹ to Reuters as he tried but failed to connect to the web on his wireless¹⁰ device. "Our weapon is the internet. If they take away the internet we are unarmed," he said. "The government does not want people to see the truth."

In other countries, government internet shutdowns before or after protests have become common. A British digital privacy research group, Top10VPN, estimated that in 2020, there were 93 major internet shutdowns in 21 countries.

Last year, the Ethiopian government shut down internet access across the country for three weeks following civil unrest. The shutdown in Ethiopia's Tigray area has continued for months. In Belarus, the internet went down for more than two days after a disputed election in August 2020 led to mass protests.

Major internet disruptions by governments have happened this year in Myanmar, Armenia, Uganda, Iran, Chad, Senegal and the Republic of Congo.

Words in This Story

decade – n. a period of ten years

disrupt – v. to cause something to be unable to continue in the normal way

respond – v. to say or do something as an answer or reaction to something that has been said or done

access – n. the right or ability to approach, enter or use

routine – adj. things that happen on a regular basis

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。