Government-directed Internet shutdowns have been recorded in Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Panama in the second quarter of 2025.

After a Q1 of 2025 with no government-directed Internet shutdowns recorded by Cloudflare, the brief period of respite has ended as Q2 sees such blackouts in Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Panama.

The latest Cloudflare Internet disruption summary described the second quarter as “shutdown season,” noting several government-directed Internet blackouts with the caveat that the list is only a summary of “observed and confirmed disruptions” and not necessarily exhaustive.

In Libya, Internet connectivity was reportedly shut down on May 16 in response to public protests against the Government of National Unity. Some providers experienced a traffic drop of more than 50 percent, while Awal Telecom reported a total outage.

Following Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, Iran experienced several shutdowns, with the Ministry of Communications stating after the first on June 13: “In light of the country's special circumstances and based on the measures taken by the competent authorities, temporary restrictions have been imposed on the country's Internet. It is obvious that these restrictions will be lifted once normal conditions are restored.”

Iran’s connectivity stabilized on June 25.

Iraq's governments - in both the main part of the country and the Iraqi Kurdistan region - implemented an Internet blackout during the exam period. In the main part of the country, these occurred between May 20 and June 4, and June 14 and July 3. The Kurdistan region shutdown began June 1 and ran through July 6. Iraq did the same in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Syria similarly implements nationwide Internet shutdowns during the exam season, though in 2025 only cut off cellular connectivity.

The previous Cloudflare report noted that it expected to see exam-related shutdowns in the second quarter.

Panama’s outage spanned from June 20 to June 29, and was in response to protests and demonstrations against reforms to the Social Security Fund, retirement, and pensions, specifically in the province of Bocas del Toro.

Unmentioned were the previously reported shutdowns said to be ordered in Russia in the wake of Ukrainian drone strikes.

Beyond government-directed shutdowns, the Cloudflare report highlighted the Internet’s reliance on the electricity grid, noting the huge power outage experienced by Spain and Portugal. Other power disruption-related outages were identified in Morocco, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, North Macedonia, the Maldives, and Curaçao.

Other outages were identified as caused by cuts to fiber optic cable cuts including in Haiti and Malawi, while North America experienced technical issues during the quarter. Several other unexplained outages were experienced globally.