The protest in La Guinera was spearheaded by "antisocial and criminal elements" that had tried to reach the police station with the aim of attacking its officials and damaging infrastructure, said the state-run Cuban News Agency. "The government does not want people to see the truth." If they take away the internet we are unarmed," said Havana resident Gino Ocumares, as he tried but failed to connect to the web at a government Wi-Fi hotspot. Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) said it found no blocking of its service. Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We hope connectivity will be restored as soon as possible so that Cubans can communicate with family and friends," said Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesperson.Īsked whether the government was intentionally restricting internet connections, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told a news briefing the situation was "complicated." He said power outages could impact telecommunications services and "Cuba would never renounce the right to defend itself." "We oppose shutdowns, throttling, and other disruptions of the internet that limit the debate of our community. "At the same time, some connectivity is preserved to maintain a semblance of normality."įacebook Inc (FB.O), which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said that it was concerned about its services being restricted in Cuba, in a statement to Reuters late on Tuesday. "The pattern of restrictions observed in Cuba indicate an ongoing crackdown on messaging platforms used to organize and share news of protests in real-time," said NetBlocks director Alp Toker.
NetBlocks, based in London, said on its website that Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram in Cuba were partially disrupted on Monday and Tuesday.
In the capital, there have been regular and atypical mobile internet outages since Sunday, according to Reuters witnesses. Introduced just over two years ago, mobile internet has been a key factor behind the protests, giving Cubans more of a platform to express their frustrations and enabling the word to get out quickly when people are on the street. They also accuse the government of trying to disrupt communications.
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