"We are suffering from complete silence": Internet blackout in Iran continues
Since airstrikes on Iran began, there has once again been no internet access in the country. Now warnings are issued about consequences, reports sound dramatic.
(Image: esfera/Shutterstock.com)
The latest internet shutdown in Iran has now been ongoing for over 70 hours, and experts are warning of potentially dramatic consequences for the approximately 87 million people in the Islamic Republic. The organization Netblocks has now recalled that internet shutdowns are a “common tactic of the regime” in Tehran and that during the last one, “severe human rights violations” were concealed. Currently, people are being cut off from the outside world and have no access to important information for their safety and awareness of events in their surroundings. During the current escalation, they also cannot establish contact with relatives abroad.
Netblocks observed on Saturday that the internet has once again been completely shut down in Iran. At Cloudflare, it can also be seen that internet traffic from the country completely collapsed on Saturday morning. The blockade was thus imposed shortly after the start of Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran. Among other things, the head of state Ali Khamenei was killed in these attacks, and in response, Iran began to attack countries throughout the region with drones and missiles. Two data centers of the Amazon subsidiary AWS were hit, among others; the damage caused has not yet been repaired.
The warnings from Netblocks about the possible consequences of the internet shutdown are now primarily recalling the internet blockade from January, which is considered the longest in the Islamic Republic. It was imposed after mass protests against the regime, and immediately after the shutdown began, its forces acted with extreme brutality against the demonstrators. The full extent of the violence remains unclear, but reports from the country have indicated that more than 30,000 people were killed there in just two days. Currently, however, there are no indications of mass protests; the regime is likely trying to nip any potential unrest after Khamenei's killing in the bud with the current blockade.
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On the microblogging service X, someone, allegedly from Iran, has now written: “One of the worst things is the uncertainty. The internet is completely down. Satellite reception is being jammed. When you watch the state broadcasters, you feel like you are not in this country and on this land. We are truly suffering from the lack of reliable information and from complete silence, and I no longer know what is right and what is wrong. Be our voice, friends abroad.”
(mho)
