Wars are not fought only with weapons, in today's era the information and communication system is also its biggest victim. At present Iran is facing a similar crisis. Amidst the ongoing fierce military confrontation with America and Israel, the internet has been completely halted in Iran for the last 37 days. According to the latest report by global internet monitor 'NetBlocks', this is the longest 'national level internet shutdown' in any country so far.
According to Netblocks, exactly 5 weeks ago on February 28th iran Had cut off its connection with the global internet. Now more than 864 hours have passed since this ban. Absence of internet for such a long time paralyzes the life of a common man. This is having a direct impact on business, education and essential services. The most worrying thing is that the authorities are now considering implementing 'Tiered Whitelisting System'.
Incidents of internet shutdown have happened before in the world, but the case of Iran is historically different. NetBlocks says that countries like North Korea were never connected to the global internet, but Iran is the first country which has included itself in the national network after being completely connected. In Myanmar, Sudan, Kashmir and Tigray we have seen internet shutdowns for long periods or in specific areas. At the same time, the internet has been affected due to the destruction of infrastructure in war-torn areas like Ukraine and Gaza. But deliberately keeping an entire country offline for such a long time, without any infrastructure damage, is the first and only such incident in Iran.
This digital blockade has taken place at a time when America and Israel are continuously carrying out missile and drone attacks on Iran. In response, Iran is also targeting American and Israeli bases in the neighboring countries of the Gulf. In this war-like situation, people are scared and want to know about their loved ones. But Iranian authorities have also tightly guarded alternative routes such as satellite connections and virtual private networks (VPNs). NetBlocks has underlined the humanitarian cost of this internet shutdown and appealed to the authorities to lift the ban, as families are completely unable to contact their loved ones during this difficult time.
At present there are no signs of this crisis abating. Missiles are raining from the sky and all communication lines on the ground are closed. There has been no official statement or response from the Iranian government yet regarding the complete restoration of the Internet. For a common citizen, this situation is no less than a nightmare, where he is completely cut off from the world within his own boundaries.
