The widespread internet blackout in Afghanistan has drawn attention to serious vulnerabilities within the most prominent decentralized blockchains, which depend heavily on centralized internet providers that can be impacted by government actions and technical issues.
Recently, the Taliban administration caused a total internet interruption lasting approximately 48 hours, which was documented by Reuters as occurring on October 1. Although officials attributed the outage to ’technical problems’, it was purportedly initiated by the Taliban.
Amidst the blockchain’s aspirations of cultivating a censorship-resistant platform for transactions, the current dependency on centralized internet services proves detrimental during connectivity crises.
Michail Angelov, co-founder of the decentralized WiFi service Roam Network, observed: “The Afghanistan blackout is not just a regional connectivity crisis: It is a wake-up call. When connectivity is monopolized by a handful of centralized providers, the promise of blockchain can collapse overnight.”
The internet service disruption affected approximately 13 million individuals, as reported by ABC News in September, marking the Taliban’s first nationwide internet suspension after prior regional restrictions aimed at eradicating online activities considered ‘immoral’.
Despite denying any imposed ban, Taliban officials have cited “technical issues” regarding fiber optic cables as the cause of the outage.
Moreover, neighboring Iran has experienced internet censorship issues related to its conflict with Israel, undergoing a 13-day internet shutdown in June, which limited access exclusively to domestic messaging applications. Reports detail Iranians sought hidden proxy links to regain limited access during this blackout.
Growing Demand for Decentralized Internet Infrastructure
The incident in Afghanistan reinforces the increasing demand for decentralized connectivity solutions that eliminate reliance on single points of control.
Emerging decentralized wireless networks are presenting viable alternatives to traditional centralized providers through a broader shift towards a decentralized physical infrastructure known as DePIN.
Roam aims to create a decentralized network powered by smartphones that will utilize shared mobile signal data to generate a comprehensive connectivity map, enhancing the ability to automatically select optimal internet connections for users.
As stated by Angelov, “Roam users can see in real time what works where: No guesswork during outages,” ensuring internet access even when centralized systems fail.
In summary, advocates stress that the potential of blockchain technology in achieving financial independence and resistance to censorship cannot be fully realized unless the underlying internet framework itself transitions to a more distributed model.
