Feed: Slashdot
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Title: African Island Demanding Government Action Punished with Year-Long
Internet Outage

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/09/14/16562...

"When residents of Equatorial Guinea's Annob�n island wrote to the government
in Malabo in July last year complaining about the dynamite explosions by a
Moroccan construction company, they didn't expect the swift end to their
internet access..." reports the Associated Press. "Residents and activists
said the company's dynamite explosions in open quarries and construction
activities have been polluting their farmlands and water supply..." Dozens of
the signatories and residents were imprisoned for nearly a year, while
internet access to the small island has been cut off since then, according to
several residents and rights groups. Local residents interviewed by The
Associated Press left the island in the past months, citing fear for their
lives and the difficulty of life without internet. Banking services have shut
down, hospital services for emergencies have been brought to a halt and
residents say they rack up phone bills they can't afford because cellphone
calls are the only way to communicate... The company's work on the island
continues. Residents hoped to pressure authorities to improve the situation
with their complaint in July last year. Instead, [the country's president]
then deployed a repressive tactic now common in Africa to cut off access to
internet to clamp down on protests and criticisms.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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