Digital darkness in Iran: Internet blackout shrouds deadly crackdown on nationwide protests

Skyline International for Human Rights condemns the Iranian government's decision to plunge the country into a near-total internet blackout. Following twelve days of escalating nationwide protests over economic collapse and soaring food prices, Iranian authorities have severed the digital lifeline for millions. This deliberate obstruction of information violates international law and provides a digital shroud for the violent repression of peaceful demonstrators.

The current wave of protests began in late December 2025 in response to a sharp depreciation of the national currency and the sudden removal of essential food subsidies. Demonstrations have since reached all 31 provinces, where Iranian security forces have met peaceful assembly with lethal force. Reports indicate that at least 51 people have been killed, including nine children, while more than 2,000 individuals have been arrested.

Real-time network data from NetBlocks confirms that national connectivity in Iran has flatlined at approximately 1% of ordinary levels since January 8, 2026. This blackout has now exceeded the 60-hour mark. Authorities are weaponizing this digital darkness to shield security forces from accountability and block the documentation of grave human rights violations. This intentional isolation prevents the world from verifying unlawful killings and allows state crimes to go unpunished. Without a functioning internet, footage of atrocities remains trapped on local devices, and victims are left unable to call for help or coordinate legal support.

Evidence emerging from the ground reveals the gravity of the state’s violence. In the city of Azna, the family of Taha Safari, a 15-year-old student, spent days searching for him only to be shown photos of his deceased body at a police station. According to reports, his body bore visible head injuries, yet authorities have pressured his relatives to register his death as a "traffic accident."

In Hamedan, Amirhossein Bayati, a newlywed coffee shop owner known locally as "Amir Caffeine," was fatally shot by security forces. Agents subsequently besieged the hospital, confiscated the mobile phones of his relatives, and refused to release his body for burial. In Kermanshah, brothers Rasoul and Reza Kadivarian were targeted by direct gunfire from unmarked vehicles. Their family was reportedly told to pay a sum of 800 million tomans to receive their bodies, on the condition they record the deaths as "government Basij members" killed by rioters.

The Iranian government has intensified its efforts to isolate those documenting these crimes. On January 2, 2026, seventeen prominent activists issued a defiant joint statement from within prison walls, calling for a "peaceful transition away from the Islamic Republic." The state responded with immediate reprisal. Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was moved to solitary confinement at an undisclosed location and is currently denied all communication. Mohammad Najafi, the human rights lawyer who co-signed the demand for transition, remains imprisoned under severe conditions following a new three-year sentence handed down in December 2025. Furthermore, six women activists—Elnaz Kari, Negar Ghanbari, Helena Rostami, Masoumeh Nouri, Fatemeh Hashempour, and Aida—were transferred to Evin Prison after being held in incommunicado custody during the first week of January.

Many Iranians have sought to bypass the blackout through Starlink satellite terminals, yet the Iranian government has intensified its efforts to neutralize these tools. For the first time, reports indicate that authorities have deployed specialized "kill switches" and military-grade jamming signals to disrupt Starlink connectivity in major urban centers. Estimates suggest that 80% of Starlink traffic was successfully disrupted in the early hours of the blackout. Possession of these devices now carries severe legal risks, further isolating a population already under fire.

Skyline International for Human Rights calls on the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally restore full internet access. Authorities must cease using technology as a weapon to shroud state violence and instead ensure the digital safety of all citizens. We demand an immediate end to the campaign of arbitrary arrests and the unconditional release of all individuals detained for exercising their right to protest, including students, workers, and human rights defenders.