Hello everyone,
Thanks for your concerns and your support for us during this difficult time. I want to assure you that all Bangladeshi Wikimedians are safe, with just a few minor incidents reported. I personally reached out to other Wikimedians I know during the blackout via phone calls. Broadband internet access was restored yesterday, but mobile internet remains blocked. This means a large portion of Bangladesh is still offline. Additionally, the current broadband speeds are unusable. Social media platforms are also still inaccessible. The government claims the internet shutdown was due to "miscreants" burning a data center in Mohakhali, Dhaka. However, this is demonstrably untrue. Both Cloudflare radar and a statement from Grameenphone ( https://www.telenorasia.com/announcements/situation-in-bangladesh/), the country's largest mobile operator, confirm the shutdown was a government order. The blackout was a personally horrifying experience. News media outlets only broadcasted government-approved narratives. With the constant sound of gunfire and helicopters patrolling the skies, it felt incredibly helpless. If the situation deteriorates further (which I sincerely hope doesn't happen – we don't want to see another life lost), the internet may be blocked again. In such a scenario, I urge all of you to raise your voices in support of us. Thank you, Yahya (User:Yahya) On Fri, Jul 26, 2024, 3:09 AM Ricky Gaines <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Farah, > > Thank you for your message. We have been following recent news from > Bangladesh, including internet disruptions. As you noted, the Wikimedia > Foundation is a member of the KeepItOn Coalition > <https://www.accessnow.org/campaign/keepiton/>, which is a group of > like-minded organizations that collectively work towards protecting freedom > of expression - among other human rights - by tracking and advocating > against internet shutdowns and sharing important information and data in > near-real time as it becomes available. > > Our own data confirmed that traffic to Wikimedia projects drastically > declined during the period of the reported shutdown, with a 99.8% drop in > page views as compared to the previous week. However, traffic to the > Wikimedia projects appears to have returned to near-normal levels as of > 01:00 UTC on 24 July and the traffic pattern since then shows a steady > upward trend. > > Foundation staff have also been in touch with some Wikimedians to check on > their safety and we have seen messages from others on community channels. > The Foundation will continue to monitor events in Bangladesh in the coming > days and remain in contact with our volunteers. > > As the situation evolves, we are resharing this guide to internet outages > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/10/25/the-internet-outages-guide/> and > other digital security resources > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Legal/Community_Resilience_and_Sustainability/Human_Rights/Digital_Security_Resources>. > Volunteers experiencing safety threats can reach out to > [email protected]. Please do what is needed to remain safe. > > > > Thank you, > > Ricky Gaines > > Human Rights Policy & Advocacy Lead > > Wikimedia Foundation > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/BBZHPS4JUWUDVVZDML4WSGEIAR5YVLBR/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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