Top 10 most blocked social media platforms in 2023
A recent study conducted by digital privacy group Top10vpn has revealed the most popular social media platforms to have either been shut down or restricted in several parts of the world for various reasons.
While several internet users in many parts of the world enjoyed uninterrupted access to all social media platforms in 2023, others, particularly in Europe, either had restricted or no access to these platforms.
From the most restricted down to the least restricted, micro-blogging platform X formerly known as Twitter topped the list with the highest number of shutdowns in the year 2023. Followed by Instagram and TikTok.
In a chronological order, the other platforms on the list were, social audio app Clubhouse, instant messaging platform Whatsapp, Facebook, video sharing platform YouTube, Telegram, Signal and Zoom.
Cumulatively, these platforms experienced 93 independent shutdowns during 2023. The pendency of these shutdowns was highly dependent on the continuous prevalence of the triggering conditions, Top10vpn's report indicated.
The report further details that X (Twitter) had a total number of 16 shutdowns throughout the year for 10,683 hours. TikTok and Instagram experienced 17 and 3 incidents of shutdowns for 9,063 hours and 8,496 hours, respectively. Clubhouse was shut down only once in 2023, for up to 7,680 hours. WhatsApp was shutdown 14 times in 2023 for up to 7,679 hours, and Facebook had 19 shutdowns for 6,747 hours. While YouTube and Telegram were shut down 16 and five times for a period of 5,286 hours and 5,208 hours, respectively.
These instances of social media interruptions were attributed to governments in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, Subsaharan Africa, South America and North America, in no particular order.
The report further indicated that sub-Saharan Africa had the highest duration of shutdown of these platforms, with total hours adding up to 30,785. However, while South America experienced only 162 hours of shutdown, it had the highest number of affected users, totalling 192.04 million.
Comparatively, the length of internet shutdowns has increased by 18% since 2022 and has risen by 71.5% since 2021.
