Twelve weeks into Iran’s internet blackout, most citizens remain cut off from the global internet after nearly eighty days of restrictions. Everyday life, businesses, and access to information continue to suffer under severe limitations. Promises made by officials in the Islamic Republic’s fourteenth government about ensuring the “equal right” of citizens to access the internet have failed to materialize. Meanwhile, text messages promoting “Pro Internet” packages are now circulating widely, and access is no longer limited to a handful of officially recognized professional groups. In this report, IranWire examines the growing expansion of Pro Internet through conversations with citizens and experts and explores what this development could mean for the future of internet access in Iran.
After weeks of disconnection, some users have finally managed to regain limited access to social media platforms. Instagram and X are once again filled with footage of protests, scenes from the Kahrizak morgue, hospitals in Rasht, Isfahan, and Tehran, and images showing the destruction caused by war. Many users are only now sharing what they and their families experienced during the blackout. Images of destroyed homes, wounded young people covered in blood, and unidentified bodies wrapped in black bags are spreading online. Some users are pleading for visibility and support to revive their struggling businesses, while others express anger over the shutdown itself and ask the international community to speak out against what they describe as forced silence imposed on the Iranian people.
