 "Iran protests: Communication blackout not new for Tehran to shield Ayatollah regime")
Iran has been cut off from the internet for over 132 hours now. This means that the country, marred by deadly protests, is virtually not in touch with the rest of the world, with concerns being raised over barring the flow of information.
However, the Islamic Republic keeps the communication blackout playbook handy at times of protests and unrest. The regime understands the power of social media and hence has been nipping the bud of the source that transmits on-ground information in the form of banning internet access to its citizens.
New day, old tactic
In June 1989, after Ayatollah Khomeini’s death, the authorities severed Iran’s telephone links with other countries, apparently to curb domestic opponents’ ability to reach the outside world.
During the November 2019 protests over fuel price rises, public internet access was almost entirely shut down, while select institutions and individuals retained limited, tightly managed connectivity.
In the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests of 2022, authorities slowed internet speeds and disruptions were widespread, but connectivity was never fully severed — leaving at least a narrow channel for information to continue circulating.
During the 12-day conflict with Israel in June 2025, Iran sharply curtailed internet bandwidth.
Starlink provides free internet in Iran
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is providing free internet access through its Starlink satellite service to users in Iran. The move comes as the country’s regime continues a violent crackdown on anti-government protests, according to a technology expert in contact with Iranian Starlink users.
Starlink accounts in Iran that were previously inactive are now connected, with subscription fees waived as of Tuesday, said Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of the technology non-profit Holistic Resilience. “It’s plug and connect … just put [the satellite terminal] somewhere that has access to a clear view of the sky, and you’re good to go,” Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of the technology non-profit Holistic Resilience, told CNN.
The scale of the blackout has made Starlink, in some cases, “the only way to get the information out” to the outside world about protesters being killed, Ahmadian said. With thousands of low-orbit satellites communicating with ground terminals, Starlink has emerged as a key tool of US soft power in closed societies and conflict zones such as Ukraine.
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