New York, USA – In a technical and legal revelation reflecting the depth of the crisis in Tehran’s digital space, the independent organization Net Blocks,
which specializes in monitoring network security and internet freedom around the world,
announced that the Iranian people lost access to the internet for nearly a third of 2026,
in one of the longest and most violent “digital blackouts” carried out by a government against its citizens worldwide.
Breaking records in digital repression
A report by Net Blocks, released Tuesday morning, March 10, 2026, stated that the current internet blackout
in Iran has reached a dangerous turning point, exceeding 240 consecutive hours.
The organization asserted that this blackout is not merely a technical glitch,
but a deliberate and systematic measure, which it considers the most severe since the widespread protests that erupted last January.
This places Iran at the forefront of countries that use internet shutdowns as a weapon to silence dissent and prevent the flow of information.
Disastrous indicators of arrival
According to statistical data analyzed by Net Blocks, the level of access to the global internet among ordinary users within the country remains at an all-time low,
estimated at only 1%. This near-zero level is largely limited to sensitive government institutions or monitored internal networks (the national internet),
while millions of citizens live in complete isolation from the outside world.
The repercussions of “forced isolation”
Technology experts point out that spending a third of the year without internet access not only violates freedom of expression
but also paralyzes e-commerce and digital banking services upon which thousands of small businesses depend.
It prevents the documentation of human rights abuses on the ground or the transmission of videos and photos of events inside Iranian cities,
and it prevents families from communicating with their relatives inside and outside the country,
exacerbating the climate of panic and uncertainty.
The organization warned that the continuation of this pattern of shutdowns threatens to turn Iran into
a digital “black hole,” where fundamental human rights to access information are jeopardized,
amid international silence and fears that this policy will continue for the remainder of the year.
