Iran’s Internet Traffic Drops to 'Near Zero' as Protests Intensify
Iran experienced a near-total nationwide internet shutdown on Thursday as authorities sought to suppress escalating anti-government protests across multiple cities. Internet traffic in Iran dropped to almost zero after 18:45 UTC, according to Cloudflare and NetBlocks data, effectively leaving the country offline. The blackout coincided with widespread demonstrations calling for regime change, fueled by high inflation, economic crisis, and mass calls to protest circulated online. Authorities implemented the shutdown as a security measure to disrupt protest coordination and limit the spread of information. Iranian officials blamed foreign influence for the unrest and promised a harsh response. The outage followed regional restrictions and was described as the most severe connectivity collapse to date during the ongoing unrest. There is no confirmation that alternative internet services, such as Starlink, were operational during this blackout. Previous internet shutdowns in Iran and elsewhere, including Ukraine and Gaza, have seen Starlink deployment, but its availability in Iran during this incident remains unverified. Iran remains mostly disconnected from the global internet amid the continuing crackdown.
