Stat of the day: 3.5 hours - The length of scheduled internet blackouts the Syrian government implements during national exam week.⁠ ⁠ Each year in Syria, when hundreds of thousands of high school students sit down to take their annual national exams, the internet goes silent. Nationwide internet shutdowns are an extreme measure taken by Syrian authorities to avoid cheating. The annual blackouts have been in place since 2016, before which, questions would be posted online in the hour leading up to the exam, allowing answers to circulate on internet forums. Similar shutdowns have occurred in Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, and Algeria.⁠ ⁠ Click the link in our bio to see more stats.⁠ ⁠ #syria #internetblackout #blackout #internet