Iranian authorities have imposed drastic internet restrictions, including blocking access to Instagram and WhatsApp, amid unrest following the death of a young woman arrested by vice police, local media reported on Thursday. “By decision of the authorities, it is no longer possible to access Instagram in Iran since Wednesday evening and access to WhatsApp is also disrupted,” said the Fars news agency.
Since the blocking of platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and TikTok in recent years in Iran, Instagram and WhatsApp were the most used apps in Iran. In Iran, access to the Internet, especially to social networks, is largely filtered or does not restrict the authorities: without VPN-type anti-censorship software, most web pages hosted outside the country are inaccessible.
Slow connections
Connections have been slow since the start of protests that erupted after authorities announced on September 16 that Mahsa Amini had been arrested for “wearing inappropriate clothing” by vice police tasked with enforcing a dress code. for women. This measure was taken because of “actions carried out by counter-revolutionaries against national security via these social networks”, Fars said.
In 2019, during demonstrations triggered by the announcement of a rise in the price of gasoline, a drastic restriction had already been imposed on the Internet to block the sharing by Internet users of videos of the unrest which left many dead.