Network data from NetBlocks confirm a significant slowing of internet service for many users in Zimbabwe on Sunday 20 February 2022, as a major political opposition rally is held in Harare. The incident impacts multiple operators and has prevented live streaming from the Yellow Sunday demonstration, which seeks to unseat the ZANU–PF ruling party.
⚠️ Confirmed: Metrics indicate that internet service is degraded for many users in #Zimbabwe; the incident is likely to limit live streaming and access to online content as #YellowSunday opposition rallies are held at Highfields, Harare 📉
📰 Report: https://t.co/IQi02uCj5f pic.twitter.com/zcGTxKn8EG
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) February 20, 2022
The root cause of Sunday’s network disruption has not yet been conclusively identified, but metrics are potentially consistent with the slowing, or throttling, of service.
Zimbabwe authorities have previously shut down internet access ahead of planned protests and during fuel price demonstrations.
Previously:
- Zimbabwe internet disruption limits coverage of planned protests
- Zimbabwe Internet shutdowns amid fuel price protests
Developing incident: check back for updates
Methodology
Internet performance and service reachability are determined via NetBlocks web probe privacy-preserving analytics. Each measurement consists of latency round trip time, outage type and autonomous system number aggregated in real-time to assess service availability and latency in a given country. Network providers and locations are enumerated as vantage point pairs. The root cause of a service outage may be additionally corroborated by means of traffic analysis and manual testing as detailed in the report.
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Source: Netblocks
