The sum of all fears: Can the internet be shut down?

Today, the Internet is not only the primary means of communication and even entertainment, but also the backbone of our economy, security, and daily life. From ordering a taxi or making a bank transfer to operating hospitals, power plants, or controlling government systems: almost everything depends on a global network that promises to be always available.

The question is neither trivial nor the plot of a science fiction movie. In recent years, several warning signs have sparked the debate: Is the Internet invulnerable?

Countries like Iran, Myanmar, and Egypt have experienced total or partial blackouts as a tool to control social protests or political crises. And recently, in the United States, political decisions nearly dismantled the national cybersecurity system, putting the world's most important digital defense at risk.

Is there a global internet kill switch?

Technically, there is no button or key to turn off or shut down the internet, as it is not a centralized system. On the contrary, it is a network of networks, built from millions of devices, servers, submarine cables, and nodes interconnected globally. There is no single point of control, nor a master switch that allows everything to be shut down at once.

But that doesn't mean it's invulnerable. What can happen, and does happen, is that certain governments, companies, or political actors partially or severely affect its functioning: from local outages to decisions that weaken the global cybersecurity infrastructure.

Examples of Internet Blackouts and Shutdowns

In 2001, during the Arab Spring, Egypt cut off internet access in an attempt to curb the organization of mass demonstrations against Hosni Mubarak's regime. This was one of the first large-scale examples of a government using a complete internet shutdown as a political tool to limit citizen communication and coordination.

This case became a global benchmark for the use of digital blackouts as an authoritarian strategy to control social movements, and set a precedent that other authoritarian governments replicated in subsequent years.

In 2019, Iran cut off internet access throughout its territory during mass protests that erupted after the announcement of a drastic increase in fuel prices.

This blackout not only sought to disrupt the organization of social protests but also to conceal the magnitude of human rights violations committed by security forces, which resulted in at least 304 deaths, according to Amnesty International reports.

Myanmar also shut down internet access and used the measure as a political weapon following the 2021 coup.

These blackouts are possible when governments have centralized control over internet providers. They can thus shut down mobile networks, block DNS servers, and physically cut off connections to the outside world.

But beyond access, the real global risk lies elsewhere: the lack of protection for critical digital infrastructure.

United States: When Political Power Puts the Internet in Check

Earlier this year, the US government launched a new agency with the goal of reducing public spending under the banner of state efficiency. In the process, it cut key funds allocated to the country's digital protection.

Among the programs impacted were:

• CISA, the agency responsible for preventing and responding to cyberattacks in the United States.
• CVE, the system that allows identifying and sharing security flaws in software and hardware worldwide.

The disruption of contracts, the reduction of specialized technical staff, and the lack of updating critical systems left a large part of the US digital infrastructure unprotected.

This was not an external attack, but an internal threat driven by political decisions. Although the cuts were partially reversed, the signal was clear: even without sabotage, the internet could be at risk if its defense ecosystem is not protected.

If organizations like CISA (the US cybersecurity agency) or the CVE system (which catalogs software flaws worldwide) cease to function or lose funding, the global digital ecosystem would be exposed.

Without these coordination mechanisms, alerts would take longer to arrive, solutions would be delayed, and the opportunity for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities would grow exponentially.

This could affect governments, businesses, and users alike. From a hospital that relies on connected software to an airport, a banking system, or the electrical infrastructure. Without an active surveillance network, any attack, from ransomware to state sabotage, can have devastating consequences.

The internet doesn't have to be shut down to damage it. All it takes is to weaken its antibodies. Depriving those who protect it of resources is like turning off the alarm before the fire starts.

So, can the internet be shut down?

Globally, no. The internet doesn't have a general kill switch. Access to it can be affected, both by political decisions and by cyberattacks or local blackouts.

The greatest threat today is not technical, but political: if the agencies that protect the network are defunded or paralyzed, the internet becomes vulnerable, even without anyone attacking it.

Global connectivity is resilient. It survives earthquakes, power outages, conflicts, and sabotage. But it is not indestructible. Every political decision that weakens its security, every cutback that affects its infrastructure, every attempt to control it from a centralized power, is one step closer to that fear that seemed impossible: that one day, the internet will shut down.