What is the effect of Internet shutdowns on the spread of mass dissent? Over the last decade, there has been a noticeable surge in Internet shutdowns as a means to contain dissent and unrest. However, systematic cross-national evidence on their ‘desired’ chilling effects on mobilization remains scarce with a few single case studies indicating that shutdowns affect the pattern of protest diffusion. Our argument centers around varying costs of protest organization incurred through the disruption of electronic communication tools, depending on the protest’s stage and the shutdown timing in a locality. Well-established and ongoing protests exhibit a greater ability to cope with the loss of digital infrastructure. This stands in contrast to those in earlier stages of mobilization, where local organizing structure are still evolving. To test this argument, we examine protests in Africa between 2016-23 in a longitudinal setup and focus on full Internet shutdowns that pose a hard case for circumvention. Our findings reveal limited effects on ongoing protest; nevertheless, full shutdowns are associated with a notable shift in the spatial diffusion pattern, preventing new locations from initiating protests, thereby limiting the spread of dissent across cities. The paper offers important insights into the digital regime tactics employed to govern domestic dissent and protest mobilization. Assessing the effects of Internet shutdown on the changes in spatial spread of protests also have important implications for our understanding of the dynamics of protest containment, potentially influencing the logistics and organization of state repression.