Iran’s leadership on Saturday maintained its blockage of the internet for the second day amid snowballing mass protests in a number of cities, network observers reported.
NetBlocks, the global internet monitoring organization, posted on X that its “metrics show the nationwide internet blackout remains in place at 36 hours, severely limiting Iranians’ ability to check on the safety of friends and loved ones.”
That post was made at 8 am (0530 GMT).
On X, one user posted: “Another night of protests, another night of repression — and Iranians are still cut off from their loved ones because of the internet blackout.”
The Iranian security services have completely shut down the internet for the population. except for its security forces and selected state media.
According to reports, people are circumventing the blackout using Starlink satellite internet – provided they were able to illegally import the necessary terminals.
Observers say the leadership has two main objectives with the blockade: To make it more difficult for demonstrators to organize protests, and to suppress the publication of reports, photos and videos about the unrest and reprisals.
A wave of protests has roiled Iran for almost two weeks, triggered by a deepening economic crisis and a sharp plunge in the national currency, the rial.
Spreading from Tehran to other large cities, the demonstrations quickly turned into political protests against the country’s authoritarian government.
On Saturday the BBC reported that a doctor and a medic at two hospitals said their facilities are being overwhelmed by those injured during the protests.
A doctor at a Tehran eye hospital said his facility was in crisis mode and a medic at a different facility said he did not know if enough surgeons were on hand to cope with the patient influx.