Iran’s internet goes dark amid mass protests, reports of violent government response
- Reference: 1767936495
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/09/iran_russia_ukraine_internet_outages/
- Source link:
According to [1]NetBlocks , network connectivity in Iran dropped to almost zero on January 8th.
“Live metrics show Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout; the incident follows a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public's right to communicate at a critical moment,” the organization wrote, later updating its analysis to suggest the outage has persisted for at least twelve hours and saw “connectivity flatlining at ~1% of ordinary levels.”
[2]
Cloudflare’s Radar service [3]records internet traffic in Iran dropping by nearly 90 percent within 30 minutes. The company says the outage is “government directed.”
[4]
Both firms currently report near-zero traffic in Iran, and that the country is cut off from the global internet.
Numerous news reports assert Iran’s government imposed the outages to make it harder for citizens to communicate, amid massive anti-government protests across the country. Cutting off internet access also means it will be harder for Iranians to share footage of the reportedly violent government response to protests.
[5]
Iran’s government has cut off the internet before. In [6]2019 it imposed a ban to quell protests, and in 2025 the purpose of a country-wide outage was [7]preventing cyber-attacks a few days before joint US/Israeli missile strikes on Iran.
[8]Cloudflare pours cold water on ‘BGP weirdness preceded US attack on Venezuela’ theory
[9]China, Iran are having a field day with React2Shell, Google warns
[10]Iran's school for cyberspies could've used a few more lessons in preventing breaches
[11]In the old days, coups started by seizing TV and radio stations. Now they crimp the internet at 3am
NetBlocks has also [12]spotted what it described as “a major disruption to networks in Belgorod, western Russia” that it says was the result of missile strikes by Ukraine. On Thursday, the downtime detectives also [13]found “a major decline in internet connectivity in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine,” attributed the incident to “a series of Russian drone attacks on energy targets,” and cited a [14]statement from Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy that says energy workers performed emergency restoration works overnight. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://mastodon.social/@netblocks/115863272994538971
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aWDfxhDWmm5mFOdf0fzNbwAAA5E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://radar.cloudflare.com/traffic/ir
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aWDfxhDWmm5mFOdf0fzNbwAAA5E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aWDfxhDWmm5mFOdf0fzNbwAAA5E&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/19/iran_kills_internet/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/19/iran_internet_outage/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/08/cloudflare_venezuela_bgp_attack_theory/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/15/react2shell_flaw_china_iran/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/27/breach_iran_ravin_academy/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/02/myanmar_coup_internet/
[12] https://mastodon.social/@netblocks/115861764739846024
[13] https://mastodon.social/@netblocks/115856218663031359
[14] https://www.mev.gov.ua/novyna/bryfinh-vo-ministra-enerhetyky-ukrayiny-artema-nekrasova-shchodo-sytuatsiyi-v-enerhosystemi
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Noooo not the internet
When you are trying to organise legitimate protests against a despotic regime. Yes the Internet is required!
What are you going to do, ring and text everyone you know about the protests, over the network controlled by said despotic regime? Thanks you have just put everyone in the firing line, once the records are checked. Shouting from the rooftop will only get you heard by so many people, (and likely get you shot at the same time).
How do you get that video of security forces slaughtering protesters out to the wider world where external pressure can be brought to bear?
The internet for all of its Problems, is a way to relatively anonymously organise and keep the pressure on these regimes. Hence why so many turn to the old internet kill switch at the first sign of trouble.
So yes, when legitimate protests break out in places under a despotic regime, it is a tragedy when the internet disappears. Not something for simplistic ridicule...
Distributed tech can beat that.
Every mobile device has the capability to create ad hoc connections with those in proximity to it, to create a bottom-up internet, circulating information and seeking a bridge to the wider net. It would work after a natural disaster like a quake, or when the government turn your net off. It could create a bottom-up internet that repressive regimes would struggle to deal with in North Korea, Iran or Trumpistan.
If your government censor or silence your internet, vote them out if you can (OSA/Starmer). In a dictatorship, things are usually tougher.
Noooo not the internet
The monsters