Iranian citizens under full-on digital blackout as protests enter 12th day
The internet has been shut down across Iran, leaving millions of citizens in a full-on digital blackout as the Islamic Republic attempts to quell nationwide protests.
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Internet connectivity failures across Iran have left millions of citizens in a full-on digital blackout on Thursday as the Islamic Republic attempts to quell nationwide protests now entering their 12th day.
- Complete nationwide internet blackout imposed as 12-day anti-regime demonstrations spread across 111 cities, killing at least 45 protesters.
- Phone lines disabled, Telegram channels shut down, TV stations targeted by protesters as regime attempts to suppress largest uprising in 47-year history.
- Cloudflare and NetBlocks confirm blackout while Starlink is being reported as active; Trump administration is closely monitoring the volatile situation.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
According to tracking by the global internet monitoring site NetBlocks, the connectivity failures have been sweeping through the nation, region by region, culminating in a complete digital blackout on Thursday.
“Confirmed: Live metrics show #Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout; 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,” the internet freedom fighters posted across social media.
The NetBlocks graph below shows the sharp drop off taking place about 8:00 p.m. local time (12:00 p.m Eastern Time).
Earlier in the day, NetBlocks, which has been tracking Iran’s multiple providers and various regions, said that the nation’s “internet backbone provider TCI, located in the restive city of Kermanshah,” was among the first provinces to experience a loss of connectivity, along with Hamadan Province.
As the historic protests continue to spread into their 12th day, tens of millions of Iranians have taken to the streets calling for the overthrow of the current 40 plus-year seat of power.
According to many news reports, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is behind the widespread shutdowns as “protesters continue to rebel against the government.”
Well-known Iranian journalist and lifelong activist Masih Alinejad posted a video depicting crowds in Tehran by nightfall, shortly after the internet blackout began, undeterred by the digital clampdown.
NetBlocks wrote on Mastodon that “the incident comes amid rising casualties with indications of disruptions in multiple regions,” with internet outages severely limiting local media coverage and citizen-journalist reporting, putting protesters at grave risk of retaliation from the Islamic regime.
Still, new reports say protesters in some cities have even begun to disable public surveillance cameras, used by the regime to "identify, arrest, torture, and kill thousands of Iranians."
US President Donald Trump has said the White House is "closely monitoring" the volatile situation, according to an unofficial feed from the 24-hour German NTV station.
Cloudflare’s own global network monitoring arm, Cloudflare Radar, also confirmed the digital blackout, posting its own warning on X.
#Internet traffc in #Iran has dropped to effectively zero as of 18:45 UTC (22:15 PM local time), signaling a complete shutdown in the country, and disconnection from the global Internet,” it said.
Journalist Mark Chadbourn has been posting updates from the ground on Bluesky, noting that not only has the regime cut off access to the internet nationwide, but has also “disabled phone lines, cutting communications across the country. Protester Telegram channels are dead,” he wrote.
The dissidents reportedly set fire to the TV and radio building in the central city of Isfahan, which Chadbourn says has now fallen under the revolutionaries' control, leading one user to comment, "The revolution will not be televised."
Another Tehran photo, from before the blackout.
undefined Mark Chadbourn (@chadbourn.bsky.social) January 8, 2026 at 4:41 PM
[image or embed]
Chadbourn also noted that “NOTAMS (warning to pilots) have been issued across Iran. Suggests something big might be happening.”
Multiple users on X called on Elon Musk to activate his Starlink internet access for the Iranian people, to which one X user replied, "Starlink has been fully activated in Iran Per Israel Channel 14."
Chadbourn confirmed in his thread that at 2 a.m. protests were still ongoing, with "some info leaking out via Starlink."
Iranian analyst and former political prisoner Navid Mohebbi, posting his own observations on X, called day 12 “the largest anti-regime protests of the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history,” taking place in at least 111 cities across all of Iran’s 31 provinces.
“Social media (Instagram) ahead of protests showed unprecedented public coordination and solidarity: shop closures announced in advance, emotional farewell messages, and strong virtual participation even from those unable to attend,” Mohebbi further noted, likely sparking the regime’s internet shutdown.
Iranian human rights groups report at least 45 protesters have been killed, including 8 children, and hundreds injured, Mohebbi said.
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