Carolyn Tackett

May 15, 2024 | accessnow.org | Zach Rosson |Felicia Anthonio |Carolyn Tackett

A cornerstone of the #KeepItOn coalition’s efforts to fight internet shutdowns around the world is the Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP), an extensive dataset of nearly 1,500 shutdowns that have occurred since 2016. But as the technical complexity, frequency, scope, and impact of shutdowns evolve, so too has the need to update how we monitor, measure, and map them. To this end, the #KeepItOn coalition has made some important changes to our STOP methodology.

Aug 23, 2023 | accessnow.org | Carolyn Tackett

On September 29, 2024, Egyptian-British activist, blogger, and software developer Alaa Abd El Fattah will have officially completed his five-year prison term — a prejudiced and unfair sentence handed down to him for daring to speak up against an oppressive regime. The unjust trial, lacking even the most basic due processes, has set a precarious standard for the Egyptian government, now showing no intention of actually upholding its duty to set the activist free.

Feb 28, 2023 | accessnow.org | Zach Rosson |Felicia Anthonio |Carolyn Tackett |Alexia Skok

From Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, authorities are imposing internet shutdowns at staggering rates. In 2022 alone, governments and other actors disrupted the internet at least 187 times across 35 countries — breaking our #KeepItOn record for the number of countries to hit the kill switch in a single year.

Feb 1, 2023 | accessnow.org | Carolyn Tackett |Felicia Anthonio

Since November 2020, Ethiopia’s Tigray region has suffered a communications blackout affecting phone lines and internet services amidst one of the most lethal conflicts in the world. The shutdown’s impact has been devastating, allowing sweeping human rights abuses to take place under the cover of darkness and cutting people off from their families and services essential to their survival.