Internet Shutdowns

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

21 September, 2022 15:50 - 3 October, 2022 20:30 (12 days)

Local Impact

Iranians experienced multiple Internet disruptions over a 12-day period in September 2022, following the death of a young woman in police custody, which sparked protests across the country. Starting on 21 September, wide-scale disruptions were observed on mobile Internet providers’ networks with shutdowns occurring daily from noon to well into the evening.

Access to a range of services and applications were blocked, including communication services WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Skype, and Instagram. Access to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store was limited in an attempt to hinder people from downloading Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps, which can help users circumvent blocking.

The Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), which monitors global Internet censorship, reported an increase in incidents of blocking of DNS over HTTPS (DoH). DoH enables Internet users to bypass Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and government-controlled domain name services, helping them to avoid simple forms of blocking so they can stay online.

Iranian officials stated that access to the Internet would be restricted until protests ceased.

Experiences

Data and Analysis

After regional Internet disruptions in the Kordestan region, Iranians faced nationwide disruptions that affected mobile data every day, with disruptions occurring from noon to late evening. In addition, several services were blocked.

Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA)
Daily disruptions from noon to evening. https://ioda.inetintel.cc.gatech.edu/country/IR?from=1663192800&until=1663883999

Cloudflare Radar
Moving more to Desktop as mobile data is restricted. https://radar.cloudflare.com/ir?date_filter=last_14_days
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