Iran's Internet Blackout: A Desperate Regime's Bid for Control
Experts say the latest internet outage in Iran is a tool for the country's rulers to isolate its citizens and maintain power amid ongoing unrest.
As tensions escalate in Iran, the country has once again been plunged into a near-total internet blackout, severely limiting the flow of information both in and out of the nation. Digital censorship analysts argue that this latest outage is primarily a desperate attempt by Iran's rulers to isolate its citizens and maintain control amidst the ongoing civil unrest.
According to Doug Madory, an analyst at the internet analytics firm Kentik, a small portion of the blackout may be due to infrastructure damage caused by recent US or Israeli strikes, potentially affecting a critical fibre optic cable. However, Madory notes that there also appear to be several smaller outages affecting multiple networks, which could be the result of technical failures such as a fibre cut or power outage.
