At some level of incompetence, you might ask whether the underlying assumptions are wrong -- for example, perhaps they're looking for excuses to reduce internet access more generally.
They want people be to used to the fact that cutting internet is something mundane so the next time they do it because of a protest, nobody will care.
I think this analogy is good, except for 'desensitize' which should be 'normalize'. Fire drills particularly are meant to normalize responding to a fire alarm going off (to make sure people know how to get out of buildings fast), but certainly aren't meant to desensitize people to fire alarms.
Though in the case of internet shutdowns, desensitization and normalization are basically the same thing.
For the first world yes I get it this is unacceptable. For the third world in a war torn country? It's almost necessary.