Basically in those situations people find new ways to be connected. For example, while satellite dishes are banned in Iran they are pretty common in that if you don’t have one you propably know someone who has. Mesh networks are currently being used in Sudan and have been in other countries where government has shut down internet. Usually shutdowns and restrictions don’t happen without warning so people have usually started to smuggle in satellite internet devices. But there are two huge issues. One. you need certain level of technological literacy and there is often some financial cost applied. If you asked my mom what is dark web she would look me weirdly. Partially as her English is not great but I have never heard anyone actually using the Finnish version but mainly because she has no idea what it is. Majority of people are somewhat priced out of satellite internet globally. And no one has heard of mesh networks unless they are techies, activists or people who have experienced government severely limiting internet access.
I am always astounded about how big of procentage manage to stay connected. Need really is mother of inventions. But if you put my mom, stepdad or stepmom in these situations, they would have no idea where to start. The rest of my immediate family would figure it out as we are more or less techies.
This summer I have switched my Reddit, web browser, password manager, laptop, external keyboard, mouse type and now I either have to learn to live with Windows 11 or deal with the head ache of installing Linux. In other words I feel you. And figuring how to make Windows 11 to be tolerable and having to look into keyboard as touch typist is annoying as hell. I am not sure how I can completely degoogle myself as I use or used everything they have although not for really sensitive content in long, long time. But the fact is my gmail is my first adult email address and is even older than my Reddit account is.
I remember some time in high school somewhere around their IPO my friend told me google will be the next really big thing. If I had had listened listened him and had had some money I might have become a lot richer than I am. There was some now weird optimism and exitement around the now big tech companies. The vision I have of google is really different now than then but I still carry some attachement as sentimental person. I guess I am taking steps. And if anyone has input into which securish cloud storage to use that is somewhat cheap for multiple terabyte of things and can be used from file explorer, please tell me. Thankfully sensitive data is mostly elsewhere.