Guinea shuts down internet access amid anti-government protests

The internet in Guinea is going dark as citizens prepare to take the street for two days of anti-government demonstrations. 

Many of the most popular social media platforms around, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and Signal, have been restricted across the country since Wednesday May 17, UK-based internet watchdog Netblocks has reported.

Citizens should be able to bypass the block by using a VPN service, and recent Google Trends data shows a spike in free VPN and VPN-related search across the region since the disruptions firstbegan.

Graph showing the Google search for the terms VPN and Free VPN in the Replic of Guinea between May 17 and 18

The graph show a spike in search for the term VPN and free VPN in the Republic of Guinea between the evening of May 17 (when the outages began) and the following day. (Image credit: Google Trends)