Generative AI is flooding the web with synthetic content, bots, and automated articles. Is the human-centric internet dead?

'AI Takeover of the Internet': Why half the content you read today might not be human

Iran is initiating steps to take full control of all 7 undersea internet cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran also proposes to impose a toll for submarine cables that provide internet communications. Iran has proposed a governance model for underwater submarine cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway, already a chokepoint for global oil shipments, is equally vital for the digital world. Several fibre-optic cables lie across the seabed of the strait, connecting countries from India and Southeast Asia to Europe via the Gulf states and Egypt.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-deploys-warship-hms-dragon-to-middle-east-ahead-of-likely-mission-to-secure-hormuz-1778355101142">UK deploys warship HMS Dragon to Middle East ahead of likely mission to secure Hormuz</a>&nbsp;“In the proposed governance model for the Strait of Hormuz, the passage of submarine cables must be conducted with a permit and payment of tolls, and foreign companies must also operate under Iranian laws,” said Iran’s FARS News Agency in a post.“Furthermore, the management, repair, and maintenance of these cables can be exclusively entrusted to Iranian companies, so that the Strait of Hormuz becomes one of Iran’s digital power levers,” it added.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/peter-magyar-takes-oath-as-hungary-s-pm-ends-viktor-orban-s-16-year-rule-1778344658190">Peter Magyar takes oath as Hungary’s PM, ends Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule</a>&nbsp;Fibre-optic cables laid on the sea floor carry around 99% of the world’s internet traffic. They are essential for cloud services and online communications.&nbsp;As Iran moves to take control of undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz, foreign operators may be forced to get Iranian permits, pay transit fees, and follow Iranian law, according to Fars. The cables carry a large share of global data traffic between Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. Iran also wants all management and maintenance handled exclusively by domestic companies.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/ed-arrests-punjab-minister-sanjeev-arora-in-rs-100-crore-money-laundering-probe-aap-slams-bjp-1778338481914">ED arrests Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in Rs 100 crore money laundering probe; AAP slams BJP</a>&nbsp;The IRGC has previously warned it could target submarine cable infrastructure used by Gulf states for internet, banking, and cloud services.

The undersea cables carry a large share of global data traffic between Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. Tehran proposes to impose a toll for submarine cables that provide internet communications. Iran also wants all management and maintenance handled exclusively by domestic companies.

Iran is initiating steps to take full control of all 7 undersea internet cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran also proposes to impose a toll for submarine cables that provide internet communications. Iran has proposed a governance model for underwater submarine cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway, already a chokepoint for global oil shipments, is equally vital for the digital world. Several fibre-optic cables lie across the seabed of the strait, connecting countries from India and Southeast Asia to Europe via the Gulf states and Egypt. Also Read: UK deploys warship HMS Dragon to Middle East ahead of likely mission to secure Hormuz “In the proposed governance model for the Strait of Hormuz, the passage of submarine cables must be conducted with a permit and payment of tolls, and foreign companies must also operate under Iranian laws,” said Iran’s FARS News Agency in a post. “Furthermore, the management, repair, and maintenance of these cables can be exclusively entrusted to Iranian companies, so that the Strait of Hormuz becomes one of Iran’s digital power levers,” it added. Also Read: Peter Magyar takes oath as Hungary’s PM, ends Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule Fibre-optic cables laid on the sea floor carry around 99% of the world’s internet traffic. They are essential for cloud services and online communications. As Iran moves to take control of undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz, foreign operators may be forced to get Iranian permits, pay transit fees, and follow Iranian law, according to Fars. The cables carry a large share of global data traffic between Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. Iran also wants all management and maintenance handled exclusively by domestic companies. Also Read: ED arrests Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in Rs 100 crore money laundering probe; AAP slams BJP The IRGC has previously warned it could target submarine cable infrastructure used by Gulf states for internet, banking, and cloud services.

The undersea cables carry a large share of global data traffic between Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. Tehran proposes to impose a toll for submarine cables that provide internet communications. Iran also wants all management and maintenance handled exclusively by domestic companies.

Iran mulls taking full control of all 7 undersea internet cables passing through Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian police have arrested a man in the southern Fars Province for allegedly leading a network that provided access to the internet via Starlink terminals, a technology that is banned in Iran, amid a ban in the country, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday. Iran has enforced a complete internet shutdown and digitally sealed off the country from the rest of the world since the start of the ongoing war with the IS and Israel that broke out on February 28.&nbsp;In a bid to access the internet, some Iranians tried to get around those restrictions by turning to Starlink terminals from the US company SpaceX, which connect to the internet via satellites. However, doing so is a criminal offence in Iran and is punishable with prison time.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/-going-to-be-hitting-them-very-hard-over-the-next-week-trump-warns-iran-1773421896323">‘Going to be hitting them very hard over the next week’: Trump warns Iran</a>&nbsp;“A 37-year-old man, who had put in place a network in several provinces of the country to sell access to the unrestricted internet via Starlink, has been arrested in Shiraz,” ISNA reported, citing a deputy police commander for Fars province, but did not mention when the arrest took place.Under Iranian law, people found guilty of the “use, transportation, purchase, or sale of electronic internet communication devices such as Starlink” used to access banned content can be jailed for up to two years.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/india-us-close-to-critical-minerals-deal-announcement-likely-soon-ambassador-sergio-gor-1773409906075">‘India, US close to critical minerals deal, announcement likely soon:’ Ambassador Sergio Gor</a><h2>Internet blackout in Iran since the start of war&nbsp;</h2>&nbsp;It is still very difficult to contact those inside Iran amid the internet outage imposed by the government at the start of the war, but some tech-savvy residents have been using Starlink devices and sharing their connection with others.&nbsp;Iranians were previously placed under an 18-day internet blackout in January, the longest so far, amid the anti-government protests during which thousands were killed.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uavs-sighted-between-rawalpindi-and-islamabad-shot-down-pak-denies-airspace-closure-reports-1773419261615">UAVs sighted between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, shot down; Pak denies airspace closure reports</a>&nbsp;The authorities had then managed to disrupt the operation of Starlink terminals.&nbsp;Elon Musk’s Sarlink had proved to be a communication lifeline for some protesters in Iran, but then Tehran deployed military-grade GPS jammers to prevent people from accessing or sending out information.&nbsp;Starlink terminals use GPS signals to locate themselves and connect to satellites. Iran disrupted these signals to cut off access.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/oil-tanker-with-indian-captain-went-dark-to-cross-high-risk-strait-of-hormuz-reach-mumbai-1773315721972">Oil tanker, with Indian captain, went ‘dark’ to cross high-risk Strait of Hormuz, reach Mumbai</a><h2>‘Iran’s military destroyed 111 enemy drones so far’</h2>&nbsp;Iran's military has destroyed 111 enemy drones since the start of the Middle East war, the Revolutionary Guard’s Sepah News portal reported on Friday.&nbsp;It said the Guards had destroyed an MQ-9 over Fars province and another aircraft in Tabriz but did not provide a breakup of how many were cheap, one-way explosive drones versus more sophisticated multi-use aircraft such as the MQ-9.

It is still very difficult to contact those inside Iran amid the internet outage imposed by the government at the start of the war, but some tech-savvy residents have been using Starlink devices and sharing their connection with others.

The Iranian police have arrested a man in the southern Fars Province for allegedly leading a network that provided access to the internet via Starlink terminals, a technology that is banned in Iran, amid a ban in the country, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday. Iran has enforced a complete internet shutdown and digitally sealed off the country from the rest of the world since the start of the ongoing war with the IS and Israel that broke out on February 28. In a bid to access the internet, some Iranians tried to get around those restrictions by turning to Starlink terminals from the US company SpaceX, which connect to the internet via satellites. However, doing so is a criminal offence in Iran and is punishable with prison time. Also Read: ‘Going to be hitting them very hard over the next week’: Trump warns Iran “A 37-year-old man, who had put in place a network in several provinces of the country to sell access to the unrestricted internet via Starlink, has been arrested in Shiraz,” ISNA reported, citing a deputy police commander for Fars province, but did not mention when the arrest took place. Under Iranian law, people found guilty of the “use, transportation, purchase, or sale of electronic internet communication devices such as Starlink” used to access banned content can be jailed for up to two years. Also Read: ‘India, US close to critical minerals deal, announcement likely soon:’ Ambassador Sergio Gor Internet blackout in Iran since the start of war It is still very difficult to contact those inside Iran amid the internet outage imposed by the government at the start of the war, but some tech-savvy residents have been using Starlink devices and sharing their connection with others. Iranians were previously placed under an 18-day internet blackout in January, the longest so far, amid the anti-government protests during which thousands were killed. Also Read: UAVs sighted between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, shot down; Pak denies airspace closure reports The authorities had then managed to disrupt the operation of Starlink terminals. Elon Musk’s Sarlink had proved to be a communication lifeline for some protesters in Iran, but then Tehran deployed military-grade GPS jammers to prevent people from accessing or sending out information. Starlink terminals use GPS signals to locate themselves and connect to satellites. Iran disrupted these signals to cut off access. Also Read: Oil tanker, with Indian captain, went ‘dark’ to cross high-risk Strait of Hormuz, reach Mumbai ‘Iran’s military destroyed 111 enemy drones so far’ Iran's military has destroyed 111 enemy drones since the start of the Middle East war, the Revolutionary Guard’s Sepah News portal reported on Friday. It said the Guards had destroyed an MQ-9 over Fars province and another aircraft in Tabriz but did not provide a breakup of how many were cheap, one-way explosive drones versus more sophisticated multi-use aircraft such as the MQ-9.

It is still very difficult to contact those inside Iran amid the internet outage imposed by the government at the start of the war, but some tech-savvy residents have been using Starlink devices and sharing their connection with others.

Iran arrests man, accuses him of running Starlink internet network: Report

Russians are going back in time and using pagers and walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. This is because the country is witnessing internet blackouts without any known reason or explanation. Reports suggest that this could be an indication that Moscow is preparing for censorship to control its citizens' online activities. The sudden outages started around a week ago with complaints coming from central Moscow and St Petersburg, The Guardian reported. Mobile internet went down for most people who were unable to access desired websites and apps. Some even said that they entirely lost their network and couldn't make phone calls. So people are now going old school. Data from the e-commerce platform Wildberries &amp; Russ cited by Russian media shows an increase in the sales of walkie-talkies and pagers. While the former has seen an increase of &nbsp;27 per cent, pager sales have shot up by 73 per cent. People are even purchasing paper maps since geolocation apps are not working. Their sales have tripled.<h2>Internet outage in Russia</h2>Internet outages have been a recurrent problem for months across Russia, with widespread mobile internet shutdowns happening in various regions. It is only now coming to light since people in the heart of Russia have started experiencing the blackout. The administration addressed the internet shutdown this week, saying that they were necessary for security and will continue for "as long as additional measures are necessary". Russia has already blocked WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube, and Telegram could be next.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-admin-lifts-sanctions-on-russian-oil-to-curb-volatile-crude-prices-amid-iran-war-us-israel-india-petrol-diesel-1773367067312">Trump admin lifts sanctions on Russian oil to curb volatile crude prices amid Iran war</a><h2>Internet isn't working even inside the Russian parliament</h2>The blackout has hit courier services, taxi apps and retail businesses the most. According to an estimate by Russia’s business daily Kommersant, the internet shutdown in Moscow could cause losses worth 1bn roubles (approx. Rs 120 crore) a day. Lawmaker in Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, also complained of not being able to use mobile phones and non-functioning wifi inside the building. &nbsp;Human rights activists believe Moscow could be preparing to block its citizens from the outer world by letting them access only a set number of websites and blocking the wider web. This is known as the &nbsp;“whitelist” system, where only government-approved internet pages would be available.<h2>Fear of widespread censorship in Russia</h2>According to the Kremlin, the "whitelist" of available websites would include "all resources needed for life". These include places where people could buy and sell items, purchase medicines online and use other delivery services. Experts fear that this is just a ploy to restrict online activity and reduce exposure to world events. Russia has restricted internet access in the past as well, especially after it started a military confrontation with Ukraine. It asserted that it was a way to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks. However, experts said that the move probably did not help stop the drones in any way.&nbsp;

Russia is under an internet blackout, with services and businesses hit. Experts say that Moscow could be preparing for widespread web censorship. The unavailability of the internet has led people to turn to walkie-talkies and pagers, and sales have shot up.

Russians are going back in time and using pagers and walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. This is because the country is witnessing internet blackouts without any known reason or explanation. Reports suggest that this could be an indication that Moscow is preparing for censorship to control its citizens' online activities. The sudden outages started around a week ago with complaints coming from central Moscow and St Petersburg, The Guardian reported. Mobile internet went down for most people who were unable to access desired websites and apps. Some even said that they entirely lost their network and couldn't make phone calls. So people are now going old school. Data from the e-commerce platform Wildberries & Russ cited by Russian media shows an increase in the sales of walkie-talkies and pagers. While the former has seen an increase of 27 per cent, pager sales have shot up by 73 per cent. People are even purchasing paper maps since geolocation apps are not working. Their sales have tripled. Internet outage in Russia Internet outages have been a recurrent problem for months across Russia, with widespread mobile internet shutdowns happening in various regions. It is only now coming to light since people in the heart of Russia have started experiencing the blackout. The administration addressed the internet shutdown this week, saying that they were necessary for security and will continue for "as long as additional measures are necessary". Russia has already blocked WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube, and Telegram could be next. Also Read: Trump admin lifts sanctions on Russian oil to curb volatile crude prices amid Iran war Internet isn't working even inside the Russian parliament The blackout has hit courier services, taxi apps and retail businesses the most. According to an estimate by Russia’s business daily Kommersant, the internet shutdown in Moscow could cause losses worth 1bn roubles (approx. Rs 120 crore) a day. Lawmaker in Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, also complained of not being able to use mobile phones and non-functioning wifi inside the building. Human rights activists believe Moscow could be preparing to block its citizens from the outer world by letting them access only a set number of websites and blocking the wider web. This is known as the “whitelist” system, where only government-approved internet pages would be available. Fear of widespread censorship in Russia According to the Kremlin, the "whitelist" of available websites would include "all resources needed for life". These include places where people could buy and sell items, purchase medicines online and use other delivery services. Experts fear that this is just a ploy to restrict online activity and reduce exposure to world events. Russia has restricted internet access in the past as well, especially after it started a military confrontation with Ukraine. It asserted that it was a way to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks. However, experts said that the move probably did not help stop the drones in any way.

Russia is under an internet blackout, with services and businesses hit. Experts say that Moscow could be preparing for widespread web censorship. The unavailability of the internet has led people to turn to walkie-talkies and pagers, and sales have shot up.

Russians go old school: Pagers, walkie-talkies, and paper maps are flying off the shelves. Here's why

Users around the world experienced significant disruptions in Cloudflare’s services on Friday (December 5), triggering a surge of frustration and complaints on social media platform X. The outage affected numerous websites, including popular services like Canva and Downdetector, leaving users unable to access essential online tools. Several trading platforms, including Groww and Zerodha, were also impacted by the downtime. Cloudflare acknowledged the issue, citing problems with its Dashboard and associated Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and said that it was investigating the cause.&nbsp;This is Cloudflare's second major disruption in less than a month. In November, a similar outage affected a wide range of platforms, including Spotify, ChatGPT, and even US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. As a major provider of internet infrastructure, Cloudflare offers services designed to protect websites from cyberattacks and ensure they remain accessible during heavy traffic. Following the latest outage, social media was flooded with users expressing their frustration. Many shared how the disruption had impacted their work and businesses, with many demanding swift action and a permanent resolution.<h2>What caused today’s Cloudflare outage?</h2>Cloudflare said that the outage was due to an internal malfunction disrupting key parts of its network infrastructure. According to information shared publicly, problem led to slowdowns and instability across its services. Even Downdetector, the go-to site for monitoring online service failures, went down, showing just how big the disruption was. Users on X reported their apps crashing without warning and posted screenshots showing a variety of server error notices.&nbsp;The incident drew even more attention after a viral post on social media joked about a “tiny tweak” by a new Cloudflare engineer supposedly triggering the chaos and the outage. Although the remark originated from X users and wasn’t an official statement, it captured the uncertainty and speculation that spread during the outage.

Cloudflare outage today: Major websites affected as users unable to use apps; company issues statement

Users around the world experienced significant disruptions in Cloudflare’s services on Friday (December 5), triggering a surge of frustration and complaints on social media platform X. The outage affected numerous websites, including popular services like Canva and Downdetector, leaving users unable to access essential online tools. Several trading platforms, including Groww and Zerodha, were also impacted by the downtime. Cloudflare acknowledged the issue, citing problems with its Dashboard and associated Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and said that it was investigating the cause. This is Cloudflare's second major disruption in less than a month. In November, a similar outage affected a wide range of platforms, including Spotify, ChatGPT, and even US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social. As a major provider of internet infrastructure, Cloudflare offers services designed to protect websites from cyberattacks and ensure they remain accessible during heavy traffic. Following the latest outage, social media was flooded with users expressing their frustration. Many shared how the disruption had impacted their work and businesses, with many demanding swift action and a permanent resolution. What caused today’s Cloudflare outage? Cloudflare said that the outage was due to an internal malfunction disrupting key parts of its network infrastructure. According to information shared publicly, problem led to slowdowns and instability across its services. Even Downdetector, the go-to site for monitoring online service failures, went down, showing just how big the disruption was. Users on X reported their apps crashing without warning and posted screenshots showing a variety of server error notices. The incident drew even more attention after a viral post on social media joked about a “tiny tweak” by a new Cloudflare engineer supposedly triggering the chaos and the outage. Although the remark originated from X users and wasn’t an official statement, it captured the uncertainty and speculation that spread during the outage.

Cloudflare faces a second major outage in a month, impacting websites like Canva, Downdetector, and trading platforms. Several users expressed frustration on social media platforms

A major Cloudflare outage on 5 December 2025 caused internet disruptions across several countries, making many popular websites and apps inaccessible. Cloudflare confirmed that it is facing an “internal service degradation”, which is affecting its global network.Cloudflare is one of the most widely used internet infrastructure providers. Millions of websites rely on it for security, traffic routing and content delivery. Because of this, even a short disruption often impacts many online platforms at the same time.<h2>Cloudflare confirms internal issue</h2>Cloudflare’s status page shows that the company is investigating a problem inside its systems that has led to degraded performance.The company has also reported a large number of empty pages appearing when using the List API on Workers KV namespaces, and increased errors for customers running Workers scripts.Cloudflare said a fix has now been implemented and that engineers are monitoring the results. (Source: Cloudflare Status Page)&nbsp;Cloudflare has not yet shared the exact cause. Outages like this are rare but tend to have large-scale effects because of Cloudflare’s role as a backend service for many major platforms.<h2>Netizens express frustration</h2>Social media was flooded with posts from frustrated users across the world.Many reported that their work and businesses were disrupted due to the outage. Some demanded quick answers from the company, saying that repeated service failures are affecting productivity and online operations.Users also highlighted how essential Cloudflare has become for day-to-day internet usage, urging the company to ensure better reliability.<h2>Major platforms affected</h2>Many well-known platforms became slow or stopped working during the outage.&nbsp;As per the company, the issue has now been fixed, and services are gradually returning to normal as monitoring continues.

A major Cloudflare outage on 5 December 2025 caused internet disruptions across several countries, making many popular websites and apps inaccessible.

A major Cloudflare outage on 5 December 2025 caused internet disruptions across several countries, making many popular websites and apps inaccessible. Cloudflare confirmed that it is facing an “internal service degradation”, which is affecting its global network. Cloudflare is one of the most widely used internet infrastructure providers. Millions of websites rely on it for security, traffic routing and content delivery. Because of this, even a short disruption often impacts many online platforms at the same time. Cloudflare confirms internal issue Cloudflare’s status page shows that the company is investigating a problem inside its systems that has led to degraded performance. The company has also reported a large number of empty pages appearing when using the List API on Workers KV namespaces, and increased errors for customers running Workers scripts. Cloudflare said a fix has now been implemented and that engineers are monitoring the results. (Source: Cloudflare Status Page) Cloudflare has not yet shared the exact cause. Outages like this are rare but tend to have large-scale effects because of Cloudflare’s role as a backend service for many major platforms. Netizens express frustration Social media was flooded with posts from frustrated users across the world. Many reported that their work and businesses were disrupted due to the outage. Some demanded quick answers from the company, saying that repeated service failures are affecting productivity and online operations. Users also highlighted how essential Cloudflare has become for day-to-day internet usage, urging the company to ensure better reliability. Major platforms affected Many well-known platforms became slow or stopped working during the outage. As per the company, the issue has now been fixed, and services are gradually returning to normal as monitoring continues.

A major Cloudflare outage on 5 December 2025 caused internet disruptions across several countries, making many popular websites and apps inaccessible.

As Cloudflare goes down twice a month: What they have said about the outage

At least a dozen African nations were ‘severely’ impacted after several operators on Thursday (Mar 14) reported failures in undersea internet cable networks. The cause of the disruption was not immediately clear but experts said it pointed to ‘something larger’.

Today’s disruption “points to something larger [and] this is amongst the most severe,” said Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, a group that documents internet disruptions around the world.

Seacom, an operator of the African subsea cable network, said traffic was being redirected to the Google Equiano cable, a process that happens automatically when “a route is impacted.”

<h2>Countries affected</h2>

NetBlocks reported nations like Liberia, Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso were severely affected. Additionally, disruptions were also reported in the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin and Niger, according to a statement by internet infrastructure company Cloudflare. Namibia and Lesotho were also affected, the Guardian reported.

“There seems to be a pattern in the timing of the disruptions, impacting from the north to the south of Africa,” Cloudflare Radar said.

<h2>Concerns</h2>

Africa leads in mobile internet usage compared to other continents, with scores of businesses heavily dependent on the internet for service delivery to their customers.

Vodacom, a major telecom operator in South Africa, attributed connectivity issues to undersea cable disruptions, which directly impacted the country's network providers.

Also read:&nbsp;<a data-ved="2ahUKEwjEkZWvm_WEAxWa2DgGHcjkDo8QxfQBKAB6BAgHEAE" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/at-least-four-submarine-internet-cables-cut-in-red-sea-houthis-deny-role-696642" jsname="YKoRaf" ping="/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://www.wionews.com/world/at-least-four-submarine-internet-cables-cut-in-red-sea-houthis-deny-role-696642&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjEkZWvm_WEAxWa2DgGHcjkDo8QxfQBKAB6BAgHEAE">At least four submarine internet cables 'cut' in Red Sea, Houthis deny role</a>

Mater noted that the repercussions of such cable failures worsen as networks try to reroute traffic around the damage, potentially diminishing available capacity for neighbouring countries.

<h2>Red Sea tensions</h2>

The disruption in Africa comes weeks&nbsp;after at least four subsea cables were damaged in the Red Sea in the wake of increasing tensions in Yemen.

Watch:&nbsp;Red Sea underwater cables under threat from Houthis?

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/red-sea-underwater-cables-under-threat-from-houthis-686480/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Israeli media blamed the damage on Houthi rebels in Yemen, a claim that the militant group vehemently denied.

Some theories suggested that cables could have been threatened by the recent sinking of the British cargo ship Rubymar, which was attacked by Houthis on February 18.

(With inputs from agencies)

At least a dozen African nations were ‘severely’ impacted after several operators on Thursday (Mar 14) reported failures in undersea internet cable networks. The cause of the disruption was not immediately clear but experts said it pointed to ‘something larger’.

At least a dozen African nations were ‘severely’ impacted after several operators on Thursday (Mar 14) reported failures in undersea internet cable networks. The cause of the disruption was not immediately clear but experts said it pointed to ‘something larger’. Today’s disruption “points to something larger [and] this is amongst the most severe,” said Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, a group that documents internet disruptions around the world. Seacom, an operator of the African subsea cable network, said traffic was being redirected to the Google Equiano cable, a process that happens automatically when “a route is impacted.” Countries affected NetBlocks reported nations like Liberia, Benin, Ghana and Burkina Faso were severely affected. Additionally, disruptions were also reported in the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin and Niger, according to a statement by internet infrastructure company Cloudflare. Namibia and Lesotho were also affected, the Guardian reported. “There seems to be a pattern in the timing of the disruptions, impacting from the north to the south of Africa,” Cloudflare Radar said. Concerns Africa leads in mobile internet usage compared to other continents, with scores of businesses heavily dependent on the internet for service delivery to their customers. Vodacom, a major telecom operator in South Africa, attributed connectivity issues to undersea cable disruptions, which directly impacted the country's network providers. Also read: At least four submarine internet cables 'cut' in Red Sea, Houthis deny role Mater noted that the repercussions of such cable failures worsen as networks try to reroute traffic around the damage, potentially diminishing available capacity for neighbouring countries. Red Sea tensions The disruption in Africa comes weeks after at least four subsea cables were damaged in the Red Sea in the wake of increasing tensions in Yemen. Watch: Red Sea underwater cables under threat from Houthis? × Israeli media blamed the damage on Houthi rebels in Yemen, a claim that the militant group vehemently denied. Some theories suggested that cables could have been threatened by the recent sinking of the British cargo ship Rubymar, which was attacked by Houthis on February 18. (With inputs from agencies)

Internet outages spike in West Africa amid reports of subsea cable disruptions

A dozen countries across Africa suffered a major internet outage on Thursday as multiple undersea telecommunication cables reported failures. Watch in for more details!

Major internet outage hits dozens of countries in Africa

A micrometeorite slammed into a satellite and caused an internet outage in Australia, it has been revealed. Internet services provided by NBN Co in Australia were affected. The seven-hour net outage took place in December last year.

On December 21 last year, nearly 40 per cent of the company's internet users in remote and regional parts of Australia 7 hours after 8:30 pm

Gavin Williams, chief development officer of NBN Co told Australian Senate on Tuesday that the company investigated cause of the internet outage and it was found that most likely cause was an impact due to a micrometeorite

“It cannot be 100% characterised as this but all the evidence points to a micrometeorite that impacted the satellite,” he said. “It effectively makes [the] satellite’s body rotate while it remains in its orbit. So the satellite is no longer pointing at the appropriate spot on Earth [and] the payload – the transmission system on that satellite – is effectively switched off for that period.”

Williams was quoted by The Guardian. He added that after micrometeorite impact, the satellite was able to recover. Most of the customers were able to gain access to internet within 7 hours but 573 customers went two weeks without internet.

Williams said that it took a while for the company to really figure out what was the problem in these 573 cases. When the issue was realised, Gavin said that the company was ready to call employees from leave to dispatch them to these 600 locations in rural Australia. However, the company reportedly was able to sort out the problem remotely.

A micrometeorite slammed into a satellite and caused an internet outage in Australia, it has been revealed. Internet services provided by NBN Co in Australia were affected.

A micrometeorite slammed into a satellite and caused an internet outage in Australia, it has been revealed. Internet services provided by NBN Co in Australia were affected. The seven-hour net outage took place in December last year. On December 21 last year, nearly 40 per cent of the company's internet users in remote and regional parts of Australia 7 hours after 8:30 pm Gavin Williams, chief development officer of NBN Co told Australian Senate on Tuesday that the company investigated cause of the internet outage and it was found that most likely cause was an impact due to a micrometeorite “It cannot be 100% characterised as this but all the evidence points to a micrometeorite that impacted the satellite,” he said. “It effectively makes [the] satellite’s body rotate while it remains in its orbit. So the satellite is no longer pointing at the appropriate spot on Earth [and] the payload – the transmission system on that satellite – is effectively switched off for that period.” Williams was quoted by The Guardian. He added that after micrometeorite impact, the satellite was able to recover. Most of the customers were able to gain access to internet within 7 hours but 573 customers went two weeks without internet. Williams said that it took a while for the company to really figure out what was the problem in these 573 cases. When the issue was realised, Gavin said that the company was ready to call employees from leave to dispatch them to these 600 locations in rural Australia. However, the company reportedly was able to sort out the problem remotely.

Micrometeorite slam to satellite caused internet outage in Australia

When Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp got hit by a global outage, the competitive social media platforms buckled up and welcomed all the new and revived users.<o:p></o:p>

In this technologically advanced world, competition is one of the biggest motivators for a company to do better. However, this competitive market can also bring in huge losses for companies.<o:p></o:p>

One such incident happened when the global outage of Facebook Inc. took place. Telegram, an instant messaging service like WhatsApp, gained nearly 70 million new users on Monday when the social media platforms of Facebook group.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/deeply-illogical-zuckerberg-hits-out-at-facebook-whistleblower-418514">'Deeply illogical': Zuckerberg hits out at Facebook whistleblower</a></o:p>

"The daily growth rate of Telegram exceeded the norm by an order of magnitude, and we welcomed over 70 million refugees from other platforms in one day," Telegram founder Pavel Durov wrote on his Telegram channel. <o:p></o:p>

He also thanked his team for pulling up extra weight during this increased work load, and apologised to existing users for any possible delays in the platforms. "I am proud of how our team handled the unprecedented growth because Telegram continued to work flawlessly for the vast majority of our users. That said, some users in the Americas may have experienced slower speed than usual as millions of users from these continents rushed to sign up for Telegram at the same time."<o:p></o:p>

This growth in the new users took place as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp failed to load and the platforms kept crashing for all users.

<o:p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/error-during-routine-maintenance-of-data-centers-facebook-418552">WATCH |</a></o:p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/error-during-routine-maintenance-of-data-centers-facebook-418552/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The global outage continued for nearly six hours and no explanation was provided by the platforms until later. These platforms, however, simply tweeted out apologies for the disruption of services. "We apologize to all those affected, and we're working to understand more about what happened today so we can continue to make our infrastructure more resilient," Facebook Vice President Infrastructure Santosh Janardhan said in a statement on Monday.<o:p></o:p>

However, the company has also assured that there has been no compromise in the user database privacy. The company said there is "no evidence that user data was compromised as a result of this downtime."<o:p></o:p>

When Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp got hit by a global outage, the competitive social media platforms buckled up and welcomed all the new and revived users. In this technologically advanced world, competition is one of the biggest motivators for a company to do better.

When Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp got hit by a global outage, the competitive social media platforms buckled up and welcomed all the new and revived users. In this technologically advanced world, competition is one of the biggest motivators for a company to do better. However, this competitive market can also bring in huge losses for companies. One such incident happened when the global outage of Facebook Inc. took place. Telegram, an instant messaging service like WhatsApp, gained nearly 70 million new users on Monday when the social media platforms of Facebook group. Also read | 'Deeply illogical': Zuckerberg hits out at Facebook whistleblower "The daily growth rate of Telegram exceeded the norm by an order of magnitude, and we welcomed over 70 million refugees from other platforms in one day," Telegram founder Pavel Durov wrote on his Telegram channel. He also thanked his team for pulling up extra weight during this increased work load, and apologised to existing users for any possible delays in the platforms. "I am proud of how our team handled the unprecedented growth because Telegram continued to work flawlessly for the vast majority of our users. That said, some users in the Americas may have experienced slower speed than usual as millions of users from these continents rushed to sign up for Telegram at the same time." This growth in the new users took place as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp failed to load and the platforms kept crashing for all users. WATCH | The global outage continued for nearly six hours and no explanation was provided by the platforms until later. These platforms, however, simply tweeted out apologies for the disruption of services. "We apologize to all those affected, and we're working to understand more about what happened today so we can continue to make our infrastructure more resilient," Facebook Vice President Infrastructure Santosh Janardhan said in a statement on Monday. However, the company has also assured that there has been no compromise in the user database privacy. The company said there is "no evidence that user data was compromised as a result of this downtime."

Telegram gains 70 million new users as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram crash

Many multinationals' websites have been experiencing online outages around the world, according to the monitoring&nbsp;site Downdetector.

They include the websites of major US Airlines companies like Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.&nbsp; 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/several-global-media-websites-go-down-white-house-uk-govt-sites-go-dark-too-390160">Also read: Several global media websites go down; White House, UK govt sites go dark too</a> 
 
According to Downdetector, over a thousand user complaints showed problems with Southwest Airlines, with over 400 user complaints indicating the same for Delta Air Lines. For the other two airlines, the figure was roughly 300.&nbsp;

Major Australian banks have also reported problems with their websites and mobile apps. The companies stated that they were looking into the situation right now.&nbsp; 
 
The Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and ANZ and Virgin Australia all tweeted about the disruptions.

A range of banks was scrambling to determine the source of an outage that was impacting internet banking and access to online apps across the country.

"We understand that some of our customers are currently experiencing issues accessing our services," the country's largest financial firm Commonwealth Bank told AFP. "This issue is affecting multiple organizations, including many of the major banks."

The outages in Australia began around 2:10 p.m. local time (0510 GMT), according to Downdetector. 
 
Earlier on June 8, the websites of global media organisations including The Guardian newspaper, Financial Times of London and CNN international went down. All the pages showed 'error 503' for several minutes. The UK government's website gov. The UK had also gone down. Reports said the BBC website had also gone down but returned later.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Many multinationals' websites have been experiencing online outages around the world, according to the monitoring site Downdetector. They include the websites of major US Airlines companies like Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Many multinationals' websites have been experiencing online outages around the world, according to the monitoring site Downdetector. They include the websites of major US Airlines companies like Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Also read: Several global media websites go down; White House, UK govt sites go dark too According to Downdetector, over a thousand user complaints showed problems with Southwest Airlines, with over 400 user complaints indicating the same for Delta Air Lines. For the other two airlines, the figure was roughly 300. Major Australian banks have also reported problems with their websites and mobile apps. The companies stated that they were looking into the situation right now. The Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and ANZ and Virgin Australia all tweeted about the disruptions. A range of banks was scrambling to determine the source of an outage that was impacting internet banking and access to online apps across the country. "We understand that some of our customers are currently experiencing issues accessing our services," the country's largest financial firm Commonwealth Bank told AFP. "This issue is affecting multiple organizations, including many of the major banks." The outages in Australia began around 2:10 p.m. local time (0510 GMT), according to Downdetector. Earlier on June 8, the websites of global media organisations including The Guardian newspaper, Financial Times of London and CNN international went down. All the pages showed 'error 503' for several minutes. The UK government's website gov. The UK had also gone down. Reports said the BBC website had also gone down but returned later. (With inputs from agencies)

Many US airlines and Australian banks hit by online outage

internet-outage

Internet Outage, News on Internet Outage, stories on Internet Outage, articles on Internet Outage, Internet Outage stories at Wion, Internet Outage news, Internet Outage latest news

internet outage