An internet shutdown enforced by the Iranian regime has entered a 70th day, according to the monitoring group NetBlocks, severing key access from swathes of the population under the shadow of war.
The blackout has now surpassed 1,656 hours, NetBlocks reported on Friday, marking more than two months since US-Israeli strikes pounded Tehran and roiled the region.
“Digital connectivity is vital in times of crisis,” NetBlocks said in a post on X. “Limiting service harms those most in need – people with disabilities, students, small businesses and the general public.”
Iran enforced a separate internet shutdown on the nation’s 92 million people earlier this year, when it unleashed the most lethal crackdown on anti-government demonstrators since the founding of the Islamic Republic 47 years ago. At the time, witnesses, human rights activists and medical professionals told CNN that security forces unleashed mass violence over a weekend in January, in what resembled a warzone.
The latest blackout has cut off another potential lifeline for Iranian residents faced with high unemployment and economic pressure exacerbated by the US-Israeli campaign.
