Can the Internet Be Destroyed or Shut Down? (+9 Vital Facts)

The internet has become such an integral part of our lives that having it shut down partially, entirely switched off, or erased from existence would have inconceivable impacts on human lives and how we function.

But what if the unthinkable happens?

Can the internet ever be destroyed?

1. Can the Internet Be Shut Down or Switched Off?

The internet is a sprawling collection of networks comprising computers and supercomputers that store and share information.

While a complete internet shutdown is possible theoretically, regional blockages and access denial of specific information or application are likelier and has continually happened throughout the World Wide Web’s over half-century history.

In practice, though, it is near impossible for a complete internet switch off unless a global catastrophe of epic proportions transpires and the entire infrastructure suffers irreparable damage.

You face an infinitely higher possibility of your home WIFI router breaking down and denying you access to your favorite app than the simultaneous inaccessibility of the global internet network of computers and backups servers.

2. How Could the Internet Be Turned Off?

Considering the vast network of smaller networks spread worldwide, switching off the internet on the global stage will take massive coordination across countries or a security breach that reaches all servers and storage.

Still, turning off the internet worldwide will require:

• All server computers and backup devices come under malware or spyware attack.
• Every data server containing the computers and backup devices suffers a power outage.
• Damage to the data backbones consisting of countless fiber optic trunk lines and even more fiber optic cables.
• The shutdown of domain name servers, denying IP address lookup, thus preventing access to websites.
• Coordination effort that crosses the national, cultural, and political divide to switch off network access simultaneously (which will never happen).

The development of the internet infrastructure to the massive, richly connected network it is today means you face a near-zero chance of it ever switching off.

However, a country or region could suffer partial shutdowns if:

• The internet service providers (ISP) deny access to their subscribers due to the government’s instruction for security or nefarious reasons.
• The ISPs block access to an extensive list of applications and websites.
• Fires or natural disasters devastate the local infrastructure.
• The data cables and infrastructure suffer extensive damage due to war.

3. Can You Bypass the Internet Turn Off?

The average user accesses the internet via the internet service provider (ISP), but the ISP could block or ban apps and web pages as directed by the authorities for various reasons.

Still, you can bypass the blockage via a virtual private network (VPN), allowing you to access a restricted site or application by first connecting to another computer to disguise your IP address.

Depending on the available locations and connection speeds, VPN companies offer limitless opportunities to still roam the internet freely despite an authority’s partial blockage.

4. What Would Happen If the Internet Went Down for a Day?

The internet’s near indestructibility doesn’t mean it cannot fail globally or nationally for a stretch of time.

But if the internet goes down for even a day, the inconveniences or damages could be extensive, from the smallest to the largest scale:

• You cannot complete your work or research on time.
• You can’t watch your favorite video stream, and it agitates you to no end.
• Online students get a day off, but the school still pays the teacher.
• Kids and teenagers will, for once, go out and play sports instead of online gaming and experience the refreshing feel of sweat trickling down their faces rather than grow sideways on a captain’s chair.
• Online shopping goes offline, and consumerism takes a day off for avid shoppers to reflect on the difference between needs and wants. Or, homemakers need to walk to their local grocery store for a change of scenery, from an electronic screen to a rejuvenating landscape.
• Banking in a particular region, on the internet and off it, comes to a screeching halt, and the payee suspects that the payor is giving excuses to delay payment.
• Trades revert to exchanges of paper money or anything of value you can barter, at least until mobile payment restores service.
• Self-driving cars won’t operate, and taxi drivers get their job back, at least for a day or two, until job insecurity returns to haunt.
• Interconnected services such as transport, solar power, and supply services may face confusion, and managers need to test their real-time coordination skills. Again.
• Modern medical equipment and critical procedures may not run, putting lives at risk.
• Potential peril for national security, although governments typically have contingencies to deal with such outages.

Apart from the more severe consequences, not having access to the internet for a day in the context of an average person essentially amounts to an extended weekend when you camp off-grid.

5. Is It Possible for the Internet to Be Destroyed?

If something is physical, its destruction is possible, but in the case of the internet, improbable.

Over the decades, the internet infrastructure has developed an extensive coverage that if one part fails, a backup system takes over in a matter of milliseconds, rendering the possibility of the total annihilation of the internet highly unlikely.

With secondary connections running on a different backbone, internet redundancy allows rerouting when a server goes down.

6. How Could the Internet Be Destroyed?

The internet will cease to exist if:

• The power grid, including backup sources, depletes or destructs, robbing the systems and networks of the electricity they need.
• Fire, flood, or other natural disasters take out the last data centers and their network of servers.
• Physical attacks on the data centers, gaining access to and destroying the remotest data storage facilities.
• Virus-like attacks infect computers and backup devices.
• A worldwide coordinated cyber-attack paralyzes the entire ecosystem.
• Undersea fiber optic cables sever, cutting off connections between continents and regions.

Erasing all data and crippling the infrastructure on a massive scale is the only way the internet will die.

Still, humanity has proven its ability to regroup and continue on its quest for technological advancement and ever higher profits, so any degree of destruction will likely be temporary.

7. What Would Happen If the Internet Was Destroyed?

As unlikely as it sounds, destroying the internet will push humanity back a hundred years in tech advancements.

These events – good and bad – would happen if a global wipe-out of the internet materializes:

• The libraries come back to life, and physical books go back into print.
• The human population lives a healthier lifestyle as they get off their computers and go out and move about more.
• Mobile payment ceases to exist – trade and transactions return to physical exchanges of currency or assets.
• Queues at the bank lengthen, and more officers are necessary to handle the increased customer load – however, banks can process fewer transactions than when the internet lived.
• Snail mails and postcards will be back in style, and out goes emails – employers can no longer expect white-collar employees to work 24/7.
• Social media dies, and families will interact more over the dinner table – plus, people will get out more to meet their fellow humans.
• Reduction in GDP as global trade slows.
• Countries become more self-sufficient with the reduction in international commerce.
• Jobs return to manual-skilled workers as automation becomes less efficient.
• Less efficient troubleshooting of issues with essential services like transport and power supply.
• Information will travel slower – so will fake news.
• AI will have less impact on human lives.
• Self-driving vehicles will no longer operate.
• Smart homes become less ‘smart.’

The list of possible consequences goes on.

8. Can Something Be Deleted Off the Internet?

The servers that store the web data consist of processors and hard disks, with a series of offline storage devices that keep copies of the data in case the primary source fails.

Accessing those offline devices would require entering a physical location with security permissions that unauthorized personnel does not have.

Deleting a piece of information off the internet is practically impossible once it goes online, although tech and communication companies can still mask it from public view via algorithms.

Further, the availability of content delivery networks (CDN) means multiple cache copies of internet data reside in computers scattered across the globe, further ensuring the complete deletion of information an exponentially challenging task.

9. Will the Internet Ever Run Out of Space?

The internet stores data the same way your personal computer or electronic device does, except with substantially higher capacity.

Hard disks work as storage devices for computers of all sizes, at home or in data centers.

As more people use the internet and humans rely on online information for their daily operations, the demand for storage space increases, driving service providers to add and expand their network infrastructure. So, practically, the internet will not run out of space.

As significantly, data storage technologies will continue to improve to house more with less space and at a lower cost.

The internet will only exhaust available space if the supply outstrips its demand.