Over a Month Without Internet or Phone Calls: What's Happening in South Kivu

Key Takeaways

• Mobile telecommunications and internet have been cut in Fizi Territory, South Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo since July 3rd (over 45 days at the time of writing) amid intensifying armed conflict between government forces and Twirwaneho rebels allied with M23.
• Government soldiers have confiscated Starlink satellite internet equipment from at least four radio stations and a community radio consortium whenever they attempted to activate the service, with the military telling journalists their equipment would be returned "when the war ended."
• Local journalists have fled to Uganda and Burundi due to the escalating conflict; without connectivity, remaining journalists cannot publish online, communicate securely with sources, or relay national and international broadcasts.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on DRC authorities to restore services, noting the shutdown "infringes upon the rights to information and communication freedoms guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as by Article 24 of the DRC constitution."

Mobile telecommunications and internet access have been cut in Fizi Territory, South Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo since July 3rd, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which published a call for restoration of services on August 17th. 

That's over 45 consecutive days without internet, SMS, or phone calls for the territory's population — including the city of Baraka — as armed conflict intensifies between the Congolese government army and Twirwaneho rebels allied with the M23 and the Congo River Alliance.

Three local journalists who fled to Uganda and Burundi due to the escalating violence told CPJ what the shutdown has meant in practice: media outlets in Fizi and Baraka cannot relay broadcasts from national and international outlets, some have suspended their news bulletins entirely, and journalists who remain cannot research, publish online, or communicate securely with sources. 

The people living in the conflict zone cannot call family members, access information about the fighting, or use mobile money systems. The war is ongoing, and nobody on the outside can hear from them.

CPJ's calls to DRC Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya went unanswered. Due to the lack of connectivity in Fizi, CPJ was, of course, unable to contact local authorities at all.

Soldiers Are Seizing Starlink Equipment

The shutdown's reach extends beyond mobile networks and standard internet. Government soldiers have been confiscating Starlink satellite internet equipment from anyone who attempts to activate it. On July 8th, soldiers seized Starlink kits belonging to Radio Communautaire Kivu, Radio Ngoma ya Amani, Radio Télévision Ngyùku, and the Community Radio Consortium — which includes four member stations. Journalists told CPJ that when the equipment was seized, the military told them it would be returned only when the war ended.

Satellite internet has been a critical backup for communities facing government-imposed shutdowns — we've covered how protesters in other countries have turned to Starlink when ground-based connectivity was cut. The DRC's response is to make that alternative physically impossible: soldiers confiscate the hardware on sight. The conflict zone cannot be circumvented. It can only be silenced.

A Pattern Across Eastern DRC

This isn't the DRC's first use of internet shutdowns as a conflict-management tool. In early 2025, DRC authorities cut internet access and restricted certain social media platforms around Goma in North Kivu province as M23 rebels advanced. The South Kivu shutdown follows the same logic: when armed groups advance, communications go down — and the people living in the affected area lose the ability to document what's happening, reach the outside world, or access information from it.

CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal named the pattern plainly: "The intensification of the war in South Kivu province must under no circumstances serve as a pretext for blocking mobile and internet access, depriving local populations of their right to be informed about the conflict and other issues while disrupting their social and economic activities."

The framing of "security concerns" as justification for communication blackouts is one we've tracked across this series — in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and now the DRC. The argument is always that connectivity enables coordination by armed groups.

The consequence is always that civilians — journalists, displaced people, families, traders, patients — lose access to the tools they depend on at precisely the moment they need them most.

Why Wartime Shutdowns Are Particularly Dangerous

Internet shutdowns during armed conflict create a compounding harm. Journalists cannot report. Evidence of potential war crimes cannot be documented and transmitted to international accountability mechanisms. Aid organizations lose the ability to coordinate. Families can’t locate missing relatives. Displaced people cannot access information about safe routes or shelter.

The Berkeley Protocol treats digital documentation as potential evidence in international investigations. When connectivity is cut during active fighting, the digital record of what happens — who was attacked, where, when, by whom — may never be created. The accountability gap opens at the worst possible moment.

Fizi Territory has been in that gap since July 3rd. The war is still going. The internet is still down. The soldiers still have the Starlink kits.