The Cloudflare Radar platform published its comprehensive report on global internet disruptions observed during the third quarter of 2026, highlighting the factors and systems upon which the continuity of the World Wide Web relies. As Cloudflare's global network handles more than 20% of web traffic, the platform provides an accurate analytical view of internet traffic behavior during infrastructure, power system, policy, or security failures.
During the period between July and September, the platform recorded approximately 49 outages worldwide. Government decisions topped the list of disruption causes with 19 incidents, the lion's share of which consisted of internet shutdowns linked to school exams in Iraq. Electrical grid failures came in second with 14 incidents, while natural disasters caused 5 major outage incidents.
Power Failures and Natural Disasters as Infrastructure Threats
The third-quarter data confirmed the close correlation between internet stability and the availability of electrical power. Electrical grids failed in several countries such as Cuba, Honduras, Guam, and Ukraine, leading to the disruption of communication stations, data centers, and service providers. In Cuba, network performance fluctuated due to electrical grid instability, registering 4 major outages during which traffic declines ranged between 18% and 59%.
In Honduras, a failure at a central interconnection facility on September 10 caused HTTP traffic to drop by 63% for three hours, affecting 11 major service providers. Ukraine also experienced severe outages due to strikes targeting energy infrastructure in Sevastopol. On the natural disaster front, Typhoon Babi struck the island of Guam, causing widespread damage to power transmission lines and frequent outages, while strong earthquakes and flash floods in Japan, Compr., and Nepal caused physical damage that temporarily severed communications.
Government Shutdowns and Geopolitical Conflicts
Government-directed shutdowns maintained their presence as the most prominent cause of total outages, with Iraq topping the list via repeated service cuts coinciding with the official examination period according to a strict schedule defined daily between 03:30 and 04:00 UTC, alongside official statements from the Iraqi Ministry of Communications confirming efforts to develop a digital system that eliminates the need for future internet cuts.
On the conflict front, renewed fighting in the Tigray region of Ethiopia caused a complete service outage lasting ten days, recalling conditions of previous digital and humanitarian blockades. The communications sector in areas of Russia was also damaged due to fiber optic cable damage coinciding with the national elections period.
What Changes Practically?
The data for the third quarter of 2026 proves that internet resilience depends not only on the efficiency of routers and digital cables, but is closely tied to the safety of electrical power grids, the physical durability of infrastructure, and regulatory and political decisions. Although many outages were short-lived, with traffic recovering in 14 incidents in under an hour and in 16 incidents in under three hours, these short-term failures still carry tangible consequences for information access, safety tools, and coordination for affected users.