Iranians Lose Internet as Protests Spread

Iran's latest wave of unrest is now unfolding largely offline, according to an internet watchdog that says the country has effectively gone dark. NetBlocks reported on Thursday that Iran is undergoing a nationwide internet blackout, following what it described as days of tighter online controls aimed at suppressing protest activity. The shutdown, it said, sharply restricts Iranians' ability to communicate at a moment of widening demonstrations over inflation, a plunging currency, and broader economic hardship, Al Jazeera reports. Protests have spread across multiple cities since late December and have now reached all 31 provinces.

At the request of seven Kurdish political groups for a general strike on Thursday, per the Guardian, shopkeepers closed up in Kurdish regions as well as dozens of other cities. At least 21 people, including members of the security forces, have been killed since the unrest began, according to a tally by AFP based on Iranian media and official announcements. The government's response has been mixed: President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged "utmost restraint," while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has demanded that "rioters" be "put in their place."

Iran has imposed internet blackouts before, per the New York Times. "The Iranian government uses internet shutdowns as a tool of repression," said Omid Memarian, an Iranian human rights expert at DAWN, a Washington-based organization focused on the Middle East. "Whenever protests reach a critical point, authorities sever the country's connection to the global internet to isolate protesters and limit their communication with the outside world."