Syria's internet goes down: Could the same thing happen in the U.S.?

Turning off the entire internet is surprisingly easy in some countries

Free Syrian rebels
(Image credit: REUTERS/Ward Al-Keswani)

Google, Akamai, and other web activity monitors have all confirmed that Syria has more or less disappeared from the internet. The country-wide blackout started at roughly 2:45 p.m. EST on Tuesday, and is still ongoing.

Government officials say they are working to restore connectivity, which, according to Reuters, is the worst communications outage for the country during its two-year civil war. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency claims the blackout is the result of an optic cable malfunction. (The country connects to the internet via four gigantic cables, three of which are underwater.)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.