Amid nationwide protests rocking Iran for 12 consecutive days, Iranian authorities have imposed an internet blackout as the death toll as a result of the brutal clampdown by security forces during the demonstrations hit 42, including five minors.
Netblocks, a platform that tracks cybersecurity and digital governance, raised the alarm over an internet blackout aimed at censoring protests and a brutal clampdown by security agencies.
“Live metrics show #Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout,” Netblocks said on Thursday. “The incident follows a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment.”
Netblocks added, “Iran has now been offline for 12 hours with national connectivity flatlining at ~1% of ordinary levels, after authorities imposed a national internet blackout in an attempt to suppress sweeping protests while covering up reports of regime brutality.”
Since the protests sparked by economic hardship in the country broke out on December 28, at least 42 people, including minors, have been killed in a brutal clampdown by security agencies.
Human Rights Activists News Agency on Wednesday reported that “the death toll from the past 12 days of protests has reached 42 people, including five minors under 18 and eight security personnel or officers”.
Also, at least 60 additional arrests were recorded, bringing the total number of detainees over the past 12 days to more than 2,277.
With the country’s inflation at 42 per cent and its currency, the rial, plummeting to an all-time low of 1.4 million rials per dollar, protesters, merchants, traders, and university students have hit the streets, disrupting commercial and public activities.
The protests have lingered, spreading into at least 285 locations in 92 cities across, while 27 provinces have witnessed protest gatherings since it started 12 days ago.
To placate the swelling population of protesters, Fatameh Mohajerani, the Iranian government spokeswoman, on Monday announced on state-owned television a $7 stipend for each Iranian amid protests sweeping the country.
The $7 stipend, Ms Mohajerani said, was aimed at “preserving households’ purchasing power, controlling inflation, and ensuring food security”.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military intervention should the Iranian government kill protesters, while Amnesty International condemned Iranian security forces for a violent clampdown on protesters, resulting in deaths and injuries, in a statement on Wednesday.