Internet censorship in Cuba

As of 2022, the Federal Communications Commission refused a plan to install an underseas cable to Cuba, citing national security concerns as reasoning.

[6] Reports have shown that the Cuban government uses Avila Link software to monitor citizens' use of the Internet.

[8] Reporters Without Borders suspects that Cuba obtained some of its internet surveillance technology from China, which has supplied other countries such as Zimbabwe and Belarus.

[10] One report found that many foreign news outlet websites (including YouTube, Google, Pinterest, Fandom, DeviantArt, Scratch etc.)

[13] Digital media is starting to play a more important role, bringing news of events in Cuba to the rest of the world.

[14] Starting on 4 June 2013 Cubans could sign up with Etecsa, the state telecom company, for public Internet access at 118 centers across the country.

Alan Phillip Gross, under employment with a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was arrested in Cuba on 3 December 2009 and was convicted on 12 March 2011 for covertly distributing laptops and cellular phones on the island, and released in 2014.

[22] Most Wi-Fi is accessed by Cubans is in these public areas, as a result Cubans overwhelmingly access the internet through mobile devices, with among the most popular apps in Cuba being communication apps Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp which are often used to contact family that is living abroad.

The minimum data mobile package down to 110 CUP by 600 Mbs and a bonus for 4G lines, combining also messages and calls.

The prices of connections, since[clarification needed] WiFi zones, or mobile data, or from houses through the "Nauta Hogar" service have been decreasing, specially since the economic reform of January 2021, when all the salaries increased by at least 5 times, and the prices of the Internet remain in the same point.

[27] The content that is delivered through El Paquete consists of a variety of digital media, including music, television shows, movies, news articles, foreign software, and mobile applications.

El Paquete forms a sort of crude offline internet where the Cuban population can gain access to a tremendous amount of digital content despite the lack of information technology infrastructure within the country.

[28] However, since the availability of mobile data (2018) and better prices, most of Cuban access Internet and his contents more easily, so, "El paquete" has lost relevance.

[29] As mentioned above, all internet is controlled by the ETECSA, so ownership of Wi-Fi equipment privately without the consent of the government is illegal without a license from the Ministry of Communications.

[1] However, the government has not taken much action to attempt to shut down the SNet, likely because there is strong self-censorship by the community to the extent that if anyone posts pornographic material or discusses politics, they are permanently blocked from using the network.