A data story on internet access inequality and the impact of shutdowns.
These are the story beats I’m planning to hit in my physical showcase with an LED volume in the Spring Show and I’ve utilised this class to flesh out the visuals for the screen. The idea is to have a series of visualisations in succession with short text accompaniments.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-individuals-using-the-internet?time=latest&tab=map
In 2010, just 30% of the global population was online. Within a decade, this figure doubled to 60% in 2020. And it's still growing rapidly. By 2025, the number of internet users worldwide has reached approximately 5.64 billion people – equivalent to about 69% of the global population.
Because we have such widespread adoption, shutdowns of access hurts that much more.
Increasingly, governments around the world are using internet shutdowns as a control mechanism. AccessNow #KeepItOn tracks these shutdowns and provides data on where and when they occurred.
https://infogram.com/keepiton-2024-report-snapshot-1h984wvp57zdz2p
How do governments often justify these shutdowns?
What are the actual causes for these shutdowns?
