Shedding light on Iran’s longest internet blackout

The Iranian regime implemented its longest-ever internet shutdown starting in early January amid widespread protests, an action experts like Mahsa Alimardani view as enabling state violence, referencing the 2019 shutdown preceding a massacre of 1,500 people. While connectivity has partially resumed, it remains inconsistent. The government fears the internet because it allows citizens to document and witness state crimes, making accountability difficult, unlike historical events like the 1988 massacres which occurred under total media control. Iranians are highly tech-savvy, navigating years of censorship by shifting between platforms like Telegram, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and relying heavily on VPNs to bypass blocks. The regime counters this by disabling VPN protocols and flooding the information space with misinformation, often leveraging complex geopolitical narratives, such as conflating anti-regime actions with foreign interference. Satellite internet, particularly Starlink, became a crucial lifeline during the complete shutdown, though its high cost limits access primarily to privileged individuals, leaving marginalized regions underdocumented. This situation highlights the need to reimagine connectivity beyond state-controlled infrastructure, with efforts like the Direct 2 Cell campaign aiming for scalable satellite access.

(Source：The Verge)