Isolating millions of citizens.. The Internet outage in Iran enters its thirtieth day

The Internet outage occurred at IranSunday marks the thirtieth day in a row, with millions of people still isolated from information and communications since the outbreak of war with The United States and Israel.

The group said "NetBlocks" To monitor the Internet on Sunday exe "The Internet outage in Iran has entered its thirtieth day, while nationwide censorship measures continue for a fifth week after 696 hours"

While the internal Internet remains functional to power local messaging apps, banking platforms and other services, access to the global Internet is severely restricted.

Costly Alternatives

Many Iranians have no choice but to rely on state-controlled platforms and expensive alternatives to communicate with their loved ones.

Arshiya, marketing director at a foundation in Iran, said. "Living without the Internet is very difficult. When even foreign TV channels are cut off due to signal interference, we have no way to follow the news other than official television"

The 37-year-old woman added "We receive news from friends and family over the phone, but it is very difficult, as we live under constant psychological pressure".

And I continued "Our biggest fear now is the possibility that they will not connect to the Internet at all, and that we will become like North Korea. Holding on to hope is difficult. All we can do now is spend all our time together as a family."

Virtual Private Networks

AFP journalists in Paris were able to communicate with Iranian residents via WhatsApp or Telegram during short periods of Internet connection through virtual private networks (VPN).

Maryam, a 33-year-old private sector employee, said that the first weeks of the service outage were very difficult.

She added. "It was very difficult at the beginning of the war. I had no way of contacting my family in another city other than phone calls".

And I continued "We now use an Iranian messaging app and can make video calls. It’s not ideal, but we are adapting in these difficult circumstances"

Absence of information

Restrictions have also narrowed the scope of access to information, while users’ capabilities are largely limited to local platforms and local media, providing a partial picture of events.

Iran previously cut off the Internet for several weeks during periods of unrest, especially during nationwide protests in January, and during a 12-day war with Israel in June.

After the January unrest, service was partially resumed, although it remained It was subject to tight censorship and strict restrictions, before it was completely cut off again after the outbreak of the current war on February 28.

Some users were able to find limited alternative solutions, but the connection remains highly unstable.

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