Internet collapses in Iran amid protests over economic crisis

Internet Connectivity Collapses Across Iran Amid Nationwide Protests

On Thursday, internet connectivity collapsed across Iran amidst nationwide protests, according to web monitoring firms. Iranian cybersecurity researcher, Amir Rashidi, who works for the nonprofit Miaan Group, expressed his concern stating, “I think we’re at a near-total disconnection from the outside world now.” Doug Madory, the director of internet analysis at Kentik, a company that monitors internet traffic worldwide, confirmed this observation, mentioning that Iran’s internet has been in a “near-total blackout” since around 11:30 a.m. on the U.S. east coast on Thursday, or 8 p.m. local time in Tehran.

Internet traffic monitor NetBlocks, internet infrastructure company Cloudflare, and internet connectivity tracking site IODA, all reported sudden drops in connectivity across Iran simultaneously.

David Belson, the head of data insight at Cloudflare, stated, “We continue to see a small amount of traffic, but the country is effectively completely offline.”

These events come on the heels of protests that erupted in several cities in Iran at the end of December following a sharp decline in the value of the country’s currency. This economic instability led to shortages of goods and significant price hikes, with some shops in Tehran’s traditional bazaar remaining closed for 11 days, as reported by The New York Times.

The Iranian government has responded to the protests with violent crackdowns. Rashidi believes that the Iranian government, known for its tight control over the country’s internet access, is responsible for the blackout.

As of now, representatives for the Iranian government in the United States have not responded to inquiries about the situation. The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website was also inaccessible at the time of publication.