These are two related headlines from the FT, both from yesterday. Start with this:
Then, note this:
There is no coincidence here, at all, of course. When draconian politics wants to suppress debate, it has a new weapon to do so, and one that is immediately effective. It just turns off the internet, and the whole population affected is discombobulated as a result.
Let's be candid: that would be the consequence here, and let's not pretend it could not happen, because it very obviously could.
Do we need to worry about a world in which that might happen, and how we could communicate in that case, not least when traditional telecommunication networks have, very conveniently, disappeared? I am not listing it as a high priority right now. I am noting it as an issue. How could we communicate in that case?
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Add to that of course ‘Satnav’
There is so much that is dependant on the US controlled GPS there is GLONASS but thats Russian & I am not sure what the current situation is with Galileo the EU system.
This is of course a ‘defence’ issue & there are also a variety of natural and human risks to satellite based systems
All the ‘land based’ electronic systems – Loran & Decca have been turned off
When my son was playing in a children’s football club, we had a telephone tree – if match details changed or there was a cancellation, we had two people to ring. We had the whole tree printed out, so if someone didn’t answer, you skipped over and rang their two people too. Losing group chat and online networks reduces speed and reach considerably, but other networks are possible. But not speedy. And businesses would grind to a halt, unless they had their own systems. Radio hams? What is star link? The satellites are still there, it’s the equipment…
I am sure historians have much to tell us- and before the internet, the lapel badge was much in evidence, telling us something about a person before we engaged in conversation.
I have of course quills, ink and paper, plus a few pigeons of course…. but has Denmark’s state postal service not just recently stopped delivering letters? Only parcels now…
It is something to consider, your question. It would be hard to restore contact quickly if the internet was disrupted.
Star link is Musk’s satellite internet service.
In Sweden, most local data comms networks are owned by local gov. Services, including internet, can have access to the firbre. Local gov, having local control, with local info servers, gets partly around the problem of national control. The point of TCP/IP is that if one node goes down, others can handle the traffic. The service “Pirate Bay” also illustrates how data (in this case films, software etc) can be distributed in the teeth of opposition by most governments. Local control of local wires is the 1st step. Then maximally distributed services, DNS etc. It is doable but goes against the current trend: everybody has a google e-mail address etc. (the “security services” would of course go bonkers & probably haul up the “what about the paedophiles” flag – well quite – ……remind me how things are going with Twitter/X & Grok).
Do we need to worry about a world in which that might happen?
Well, I came aceoss this a while back – it has been under serious discussion in Europe.
Trump can pull the plug on the internet, and Europe can’t do anything about it.
The fatal vulnerability is Europe’s near-total dependency on U.S. cloud providers.
https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-eu-internet-europe-us-trade-war-data-cyber/
How much it applies to UK? I suspect it does.
I think a full internet switch off in the UK would be too disruptive for the government to consider. Were effectively a cashless society and every cash machine and every card reader works online.
It’s not just personal communication is business, commerce, logistics everything.
But a limited shutdown or heavy restriction could be done.
“…not least when traditional telecommunication networks have, very conveniently, disappeared…”.
I’m quite sure the means existed to make those traditional networks “turn off” whenever the government wanted – perhaps in those days it would have been unimaginable for them to want or need or dare to do it, but I’m sure the means existed. And it was certainly trivial to listen to conversations then – unencrypted analogue lines. Nowadays encryption is much more prevalent.
As for “they can just turn it off” – which part of it is in the governments hands? Isn’t everything effectively in private corporate hands? Surely the operators at either the ISP or Openreach level would just go to court?
I am sure the powers exist. Covid regulation allowed just about anything.
Given the shite that I see on the internet, I’d love it to be closed down.
Give me a good old fashioned landline any day of the week, and a real person at the end of it, some stamps and writing paper too.
Trad landlines are being replaced by VoIP technology, so in the not too distant future (Jan 2027) all UK landlines will depend on the internet to work.
It is such a mistake to abandon the Traditional phone lines. I am sure I am not the only one who has kept a non-electronic phone for then needed – and used it when we had no electricity.
Our council offers an excellent emergency support service – currently over the traditional phone lines.
Apparently, when the lines go digital, the service will rely on a battery in the control box.
How long will that last I ask?
Oh ages – a couple of hours at least I was told.
How many power cuts last only a couple of hours? Not many round here!!
(When we first got the service, and the installers said this might happen, they said “the government realises this is a problem and will make Open Reach (or whoever it is) keep the lines live for just this reason. ”
I wonder how big a donation, and to whom, it took to reverse that decision?
Our dependence on the internet does now leave us very vulnerable to attacks but we have an even greater dependence on the electricity supply. If this is compromised all our services will quickly come to a stop – banking, food shopping, transport, telephones, heating and, of course, the internet.
Recent winter storms have given us a taste of this here in Devon.
The military/industrial complex demands greater spending on bombs, aircraft carriers and extra troops but all we need to do is turn off the electricity.
Good point RJP, lots of damage to energy infrastructure in Russian war on Ukraine, for eg. But if govt wants to, or is leaned on, switches can be thrown. I think Richard’s advice to get a few tins and some oil in the cupboard is sound. But people my generation never have a bare cupboard.
We have a store cupboard. We like to eat fresh, but basics never go amiss.
Yes, and there are many adversaries eyeing up our critical infrastructure. Still, I’m sure we’re doing the same to them…
I fought that fight >15yrs ago. We won the battle (Phorm/BT) but only with the help of the EU Commission, but we lost the war on digital privacy as states moved against a “distributed/decentralised” internet and started firewalling their borders. China did it publicly, but America has far more control over UK internet. At the moment the USA mostly surveils (think about this next time you holiday near Bude, as your Gmail boards the transatlantic cable), and remeber how much power the USA has over digital payment systems – we only use our VISA/Mastercard/Paypal/GooglePay as long as the USA say we can. Nowadays, they say “NO” quite often, to people they don’t like.
Then there are the Israelis and their spyware/terror-ware.
RobertJ, I am fully aware of the point you have made re the cable terminals near Bude and to add to your final paragraph re the US potential control, we should bear in mind that Google is owned by Alphabet, an Israeli company.
How is Alphabet an Israeli company? I am baffled by that.
Old habits die hard.
Having only a motorbike for the first seven years of marriage, we used to stock up on non-perishables whenever we hired a car for holidays. Forty years later we still have enough cans and bottles to last us many weeks without cooking anything.
I still have a working CB radio and a hybrid petrol car to power it from. I never let the car go below half full of fuel unless on a long trip.
As a family we deliberately use different banks and internet and mobile phone networks. Also have cards on both Mastercard and Visa.
Being on holiday in Portugal was a useful lesson when the power was off from noon til midnight on April 28th last year. Rechargeable torches and power banks came in very useful as did bottled gas for cooking.
Back home – having a gas fire or log burner has major advantages over central heating during any power cuts.
Assuming the internet still works, having a free (Proton) VPN and a messenger service (Briar) that avoids using central servers are both prudent choices in times of government restrictions. Also use of the Radio Garden app (and a VPN) for worldwide radio stations could be an additional resource.
Basically anything that improves your chances is worth considering.
If WW3 breaks out maybe it’ll be the most fortunate citizens who don’t survive the first few hours.
Wow. I feel hopelessly unprepared.
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/01/15/what-happens-when-the-internet-is-turned-off/comment-page-1/#comment-1063261
Richard, John…
I can’t comment on any formal ownership links – the controlling B voting shares (51%) seem to be in the hands of Larry Page and Sergey Bryn, but see:
https://brusselsmorning.com/does-google-support-israel-what-you-should-know/72332/
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-838681
https://shopisrael.com/blogs/support/google
https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/battle-inside-google-over-company-support-israel-military
https://updates.techforpalestine.org/the-deep-ties-between-google-and-the-israeli-military/
On ownership/control see:
https://www.kamilfranek.com/who-owns-google-alphabet/
Ive carefully selected my sources.
I would suggest that the above indicates that there is a close business relationship with Israel but no overt public political support (or criticism) or evidence of Israeli “ownership”.
The IDF, Mossad and ShinBet rely heavily on digital surveillance, large population databases, archived intelligence and AI in the course of their lawful and unlawful activities. So getting involved in AI and digital tech in Israel, is in itself, clearly going to involve being associated, if only reputationally, with those activities, possibly culpably.
Google employees have been sacked for pointing that out.
I am of course expressing myself v carefully, because of surveillance and lawfare.
“The Counter disinformation unit (CDU), now known as the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT), leads the UK’s governments response to misinformation and disinformation.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter_disinformation_unit
Some have been critical of the CDU.
“Government apologises after “counter disinformation” unit spread misinformation about journalist to UK and US governments”
Big Brother Watch Team / October 27, 2023
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/government-apologises-after-counter-disinformation-unit-spread-misinformation-about-journalist-to-uk-and-us-governments/
Iran, with the help of Russian hardware and Chinese tech, successfully shut down Starlink, which shut down the ability of the provocateurs to coordinate their activities. As a result the violence stopped.
If you read Israeli media, you would have seen much boasting about Mossad agents being involved. Now there is disappointment that the regime change operation has failed, and the hoped for rationale for the US to bomb Iran to save its citizens has crumbled.
To understand what has been happening in Iran I urge you to listen to this interview with Alastair Crooke (a former British diplomat, MI6 official and EU diplomat) who’s had long involvement in the Middle East ,including with high level conflict negotiation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1NTzriyBj0
Crooke’s Conflicts Forum website has been superseded and he now publishes mainly on Substack.
Roughly weekly he publishes a selection of significant Israeli opinion, often taken from the Hebrew press. This is a very valuable resource for anyone interested in the current conflicts.
Unfortunately, apart from the occasional public post, it’s subscriber only.
https://conflictsforum.substack.com/p/deciphering-trumps-externalised-internal
Thanks
Today’s Jewish Chronicle print version (online free library subscription) reports solidarity of British Jews with Iranian protesters – citing “Stop The Hate”. I thought that was an interesting angle – the JC is always worth looking at – not for its veracity though, it has a v poor record with the press regulator. “Stop The Hate” need more than a cursory glance too.
Online version here:
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/we-wont-forget-who-stood-by-us-iranian-dissidents-tell-jewish-allies-as-thousands-attend-london-rally-qm5yeoej