An internet shutdown enforced by Iran’s governing regime entered its 60th day on Tuesday, according to the monitoring group NetBlocks, locking residents into “digital darkness.”
Two months ago, authorities in Iran “cut off access to the global internet,” NetBlocks said in a post on X.
The government had previously imposed a widescale telecommunications shutdown earlier this year while unleashing the most lethal crackdown on its own people in the 47-year history of the Islamic Republic. At the time, rights advocates condemned authorities for trying to block people inside the country from revealing the scale and ferocity of atrocities to the outside world.
Now, as the economic strain of the US-Israeli war on Tehran and retaliatory strikes worsens, Iranians faced with soaring unemployment say the internet blackout has severed another potential lifeline.
One resident in her 50s, from the city of Isfahan, warned that women working from home are less able to access employment opportunities on the internet.
Somayeh, who has been teaching German online for years, told CNN, “Nothing works properly anymore.”
“The drop in income is bad, but what’s worse is this constant uncertainty. You never know what’s going to happen next,” she said.
