African Island Demanding Government Action Punished with Year-Long Internet Outage

'When residents of Equatorial Guinea's Annobón island wrote to the government in Malabo in July last year complaining about the dynamite explosions by a Moroccan construction company, they didn't expect the swift end to their internet access...' reports the Associated Press.

'Residents and activists said the company's dynamite explosions in open quarries and construction activities have been polluting their farmlands and water supply...'

Dozens of the signatories and residents were imprisoned for nearly a year, while internet access to the small island has been cut off since then, according to several residents and rights groups. Local residents interviewed by The Associated Press left the island in the past months, citing fear for their lives and the difficulty of life without internet. Banking services have shut down, hospital services for emergencies have been brought to a halt and residents say they rack up phone bills they can't afford because cellphone calls are the only way to communicate...

The company's work on the island continues. Residents hoped to pressure authorities to improve the situation with their complaint in July last year. Instead, [the country's president] then deployed a repressive tactic now common in Africa to cut off access to internet to clamp down on protests and criticisms.

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