Access to the global internet remains restricted in Iran this Friday

Access to the global internet remains restricted this Friday in Iran, after authorities cut off connections or services from outside the country on Thursday in an apparent attempt to control the protests shaking Iran, which today mark 13 days and have left at least 45 dead, according to an NGO. The NetBlocks platform, which monitors internet traffic and censorship, reported on Friday on X a “nationwide” internet “shutdown” in Iran following “a series of digital censorship measures” taken against the protests that are taking place throughout the country, measures that “hinder” the right to communicate at a “critical” moment. EFE was able to verify that, from the first hour of Thursday afternoon, it was no longer possible to connect to pages outside of Iran and the VPNs (virtual private network) that are usually used to access applications blocked in the country, such as WhatsApp or Telegram, were not working either.

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This Friday, NetBlocks shared another report on X: “Iran has been without an internet connection for 12 hours, with national connectivity reduced to 1% of usual levels after the authorities imposed a national internet blackout in an attempt to suppress protests” and “hide the news about the regime”.

On December 28, 2025, demonstrations began throughout the Iranian state, initially driven by merchants and economic sectors affected by the deterioration of the economic situation, the collapse of the rial, and high inflation, although the protests took on a political nature and turned into complaints against the theocratic regime of the ayatollahs.

At least 45 protesters, including eight children, have died and hundreds more have been injured in the first twelve days of protests, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), which has not updated those figures on Thursday. The U.S. President, Donald Trump, has been threatening Iran with new attacks – after those of June 2025 – if more protesters die in the protests, and this Friday the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded to the threats in a message addressed to the nation. “US President Trump should focus on governing his own country if he is able; the United States faces numerous internal problems,” Jamene’i said in his message broadcast by local television PressTv. During the protests, chants have been heard against him, with slogans like “Death to Jamenei”, which have been joined by others such as “Death to the Islamic Republic” or “This is the last battle, Pahlevi will return”, alluding to the dynasty overthrown with the Islamic Revolution of 1979.