From undersea cable disruptions to deliberate shutdowns, 2025 has been a tumultuous year for global internet access. Here’s a breakdown of the most significant outages, their causes, and who bore the brunt.
- 1. Red Sea Undersea Cable Cuts — Asia, Middle East, South Asia
- 2. Google Service Outages — Europe & Turkey
- 3. Starlink Global Outage
- 4. Google Cloud Outage — Global Platforms Hit
- 5. ChatGPT Service Disruption
- 6. Internet Shutdowns & Power-Related Outages
- 7. Cyberattack on St. Paul, Minnesota
- Why It All Matters
- Final Thoughts
1. Red Sea Undersea Cable Cuts — Asia, Middle East, South Asia
On September 6, 2025, multiple undersea cables in the Red Sea—such as SEA-ME-WE-4, IMEWE, and FALCON—were damaged, likely by a ship dragging its anchor near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Connectivity slowed significantly across India, Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Middle Eastern nations. Major tech platforms, including Microsoft Azure, experienced increased latency, though traffic was rerouted to alternate pathways.
This incident highlighted how vulnerable international internet infrastructure is, particularly when reliant on a handful of critical submarine routes. Restoration may take weeks, emphasizing the need for redundancy.
2. Google Service Outages — Europe & Turkey
On September 4, users across Turkey, Greece, Germany, and parts of eastern Europe faced disruptions to Google services—including YouTube, Gmail, and Maps. Service was mostly restored within hours, but Google offered no public explanation.
Millions struggled to access essential services like video streaming, email, map navigation, and file storage—critical tools for daily life and work.
Even tech giants can encounter unexpected downtime. Lack of clarity or communication during such outages can erode user trust.
3. Starlink Global Outage
On July 24, Starlink—the satellite internet network from SpaceX—experienced a sudden global outage affecting over 61,000 users. The disruption lasted several hours before traffic began to recover. The cause was suspected to be a software issue.
Users worldwide who rely on Starlink—especially in remote or underserved regions—lost access to essential internet services.
Satellite internet is increasingly vital for global connectivity. This incident shows that even cutting-edge networks can face vulnerabilities.
4. Google Cloud Outage — Global Platforms Hit
On June 12, Google Cloud suffered a significant outage, disrupting services like Spotify and Discord worldwide. Engineers identified the problem and began mitigation, though full restoration timelines remained unclear.
Users of popular platforms dependent on Google’s backend infrastructure faced delays or complete service loss during peak hours.
Cloud dependency means that vulnerabilities in infrastructure providers can ripple across multiple platforms simultaneously.
5. ChatGPT Service Disruption
On September 3, OpenAI’s ChatGPT faced a widespread service disruption that impacted users globally. Access issues surfaced on social platforms and within ChatGPT itself.
Millions of users who rely on ChatGPT for work, study, or everyday tasks were unable to access the AI.
AI tools have become integral to digital workflows. Interruptions have immediate impacts on productivity, research, and communication.
6. Internet Shutdowns & Power-Related Outages
Cloudflare reported internet shutdowns in Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Panama during Q2 2025. Power failures also disrupted connectivity in Spain, Portugal, and Puerto Rico.
During the Iran–Israel conflict, Iran imposed a near-total internet blackout, reducing usage by 97%. Citizens were abruptly disconnected from the world, affecting banking, communication, and more.
Starting May, Russia saw a surge in mobile internet shutdowns—655 in June escalating to over 2,099 in July—to control perceived threats from drone operations.
Entire populations in these regions faced disruptions to essential services like financial apps, messaging, navigation, and public safety systems.
These events showcase how internet control is increasingly used as a tool for political or security objectives, often at great social and economic cost.
7. Cyberattack on St. Paul, Minnesota
Starting July 25, the city of St. Paul endured a coordinated cyberattack that disrupted internal networks, public Wi-Fi, and online payment systems. The Minnesota National Guard was deployed as officials declared a state of emergency.
City employees, residents, and service users were stripped of access to digital payments, municipal resources, and administrative functions.
This attack underscores how even local government infrastructure is vulnerable to sophisticated cyber threats, prompting emergency responses.
Why It All Matters
These outages reveal our growing reliance on digital connectivity and underline key vulnerabilities—undersea cables, centralised infrastructure, cloud dependency, and geopolitical instability. For individuals, outages disrupt daily life. For businesses and governments, they risk productivity, economy, and trust.
Final Thoughts
2025 has proven that internet access is an intricate and fragile ecosystem—subject to everything from infrastructure mishaps to strategic shutdowns. Whether you’re a casual user or a digital-first business, it’s a reminder: resilience matters. Diversification, redundancy, and preparedness are no longer optional—they’re essential.