Iranian authorities are working to transform internet access into a privilege reserved for government-approved citizens, according to a report by internet monitoring organization Filterwatch that warns of “absolute digital isolation.”
Most of Iran’s 90 million people would be restricted to a sealed domestic network with no connection to the broader web under the confidential plan, which Filterwatch says represents a fundamental shift from temporary shutdowns to permanent separation. Iran imposed a near-total communications blackout on January 8 as protests intensified, a restriction that remains largely in place more than 10 days later.
Read: Iran enters blackout as protests spread nationwide
“A confidential plan is under way to turn international internet access into a ‘governmental privilege,'” Filterwatch stated in its report published Thursday. “State media and government spokespersons have already signaled that this is a permanent shift, warning that unrestricted access will not return after 2026.”
Under the plan, Iranians with security clearance or who pass government background checks will receive access to a filtered version of the global internet. All other citizens would be restricted to Iran’s national intranet, which authorities completely control and which has no external connectivity.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed on January 15 that access to international websites would remain unavailable until at least the Iranian New Year on March 20.
The permanent isolation plan has been in development since 2012, when Iranian authorities recognized the costs of wholesale shutdowns during the 2009 anti-regime protests. The plan is coordinated with Chinese technology company Huawei and Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia military base, according to Filterwatch.
Rights groups say authorities are using the current blackout to mask the scale of their violent crackdown on protesters. At least 3,090 people have died in the unrest, including 2,885 protesters, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Saturday. Norway-based Iran Human Rights has verified 3,428 deaths, while other estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000.
“The Iranian authorities have once again deliberately blocked internet access inside Iran to hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out,” said Rebecca White, researcher at Amnesty International’s Security Lab.
The protests began December 28 after merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar closed shops over currency collapse and soaring inflation. Demonstrations quickly spread nationwide, evolving from economic grievances into calls for regime change.
Iran’s internet infrastructure allows authorities to shut down connectivity at will because the government controls all telecommunications companies and international gateway connections. The centralized system enables officials to impose nationwide blackouts rapidly.
During the current blackout, security forces conducted door-to-door operations seizing satellite dishes and Starlink terminals that some Iranians had smuggled into the country. Authorities made Starlink devices illegal and deployed jammers to block signals, according to reports.
As of Saturday, NetBlocks reported that internet connectivity in Iran had risen to approximately 2% after more than 200 hours of near-total blackout. Text messaging services were restored on some mobile networks, but most of the country’s 90 million people remain cut off from the global internet.
“We have entered a new era, where connectivity is no longer a right but a government-granted privilege,” the Filterwatch report concluded.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that authorities “must break the back of the seditionists” involved in the protests. He blamed US President Donald Trump for the casualties, saying “we consider the US president a criminal for the casualties, damages and the slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation.”
Amnesty International noted that Iran previously imposed internet shutdowns during the November 2019 protests, when security forces killed hundreds, and during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. Rights groups characterized both crackdowns as massacres carried out under cover of communications blackouts.
The organization called the current shutdown “inherently disproportionate under international human rights law” and demanded immediate restoration of full internet access.
An American official described Iran’s permanent isolation plan as “plausible and terrifying,” noting it would have massive cultural and economic impacts on the country, according to Filterwatch’s report.
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