In the wake of Iran’s digital blackout amid the January 2026 massacre of thousands of Iranian protestors, the Islamic regime began implementing a “National Internet” system which it has been developing since 2005. This “intranet” focuses on completely isolating Iranians from the global community. Not only taking away their freedom of speech, but also stripping them of their access to truthful information. The current internet shutdown enforced by the Islamic regime is censoring the Iranian people, surveilling civilians through tracking their access to VPN and Starlink, and causing a severe economic collapse.
Background of Internet Use in Iran
To fully examine the internet shutdown, we first need to understand the use of the internet in Iran. The Iranian government has been interfering with civilian access to the World Wide Web as far back as 1998. For years, the Iranian government has filtered all digital applications, and Iranian civilians have only been able to access the open internet through a VPN. Despite this, social platforms such as Instagram, Telegram and Whatsapp are the most used platforms. It is through these social platforms that civilians can communicate with the international community. For this reason, the Iranian government has been working to create a fully domestic and controlled network, which is currently being implemented. The Islamic regime uses a tiered internet system, meaning, internet access in Iran is split into three tiers: fully unrestricted, semi-filtered and the National Information Network (NIN). The internet classification focuses on creating internet access based on affiliations with the government.
One of the main components of the fully unrestricted tier is the “White List” which allows individuals affiliated with the government to fully access the open internet. This also facilitates the government’s use of propaganda. In 2024, Article 19 shared insights into Iran’s campaign of weaponizing government affiliated influencers as state propaganda tools, making it easier to spread propaganda and silence voices of Iranian civilians.
The semi-filtered internet access also referred to as “internet pro” focuses on providing partial internet access to essential entities such as businesses that need the internet to operate and individuals the Iranian government deems fit. Internet access still remains restricted under this tier. Individuals do not have full access to all social platforms, only select websites. The semi-filtered access also requires all the personal information of individuals and organizations to be distributed to the government.
The final tier is the National Information Network, a completely domestic “intranet” which is the only accessible network for Iranian civilians. This does not allow any foreign application or access to the wide web and places civilians at a heightened risk of surveillance.
Iran’s History of Digital Blackout
The first instance of a full digital blackout in Iran occurred in 2019, also known as Bloody November. Iranians took to the streets to protest the poor living conditions amidst the increase in fuel price. The Iranian government responded with a full internet shutdown, during which security forces killed 1,500 protesters. A strategic plan that made it difficult for citizens to report the death toll and allowed the government to act violently with minimal information leaking to the global community.
Once again, the internet was shut off during the Women Life Freedom movement after a young woman named Mahsa Jina Amini was killed at the hands of the “morality police,” set by the Iranian government to police women’s bodies and enforce mandatory hijab. Hundreds of protestors were killed and thousands arrested. The internet shutdown in 2022 was relatively different and instead was implemented through a curfew that was set during peak protest hours.
The Islamic regime enforced another internet shutdown in June 2025 during the twelve day war between Israel and Iran. Leaving its own civilians without access to internet services and communication during wartime conditions.
On January 8th 2026, Iranian civilians took to the streets to voice their opposition to the Iranian government. Amid the protests, the Islamic regime imposed a nationwide internet shutdown and massacred thousands of innocent civilians. Families were unable to get a hold of each other, many bodies disappeared, thousands were arrested and many wounded. This digital blackout lasted until the end of January and access was not properly restored. Instead the government started implementing their tiered internet plan.
On February 28, 2026, after Operation Epic Fury began, the Islamic regime enforced another internet shutdown and Iranian civilians have yet to come back online. The Islamic Republic of Iran has continuously carried out violent crackdowns during internet shutdowns, leaving the international community with serious concern for Iranian civilians during the current digital blackout, which is the longest net block in history.
Surveillance Beyond Borders
To further dissect the importance of the current internet blackout on a global scale it’s crucial to recognize the enforcement of national applications. The Iranian government enforcing this recent digital blackout is coercing civilians to use domestic platforms that contain dangerous threats of government surveillance.
Voice of America points to the investigation of the Security Lab of the Open Technology Fund, which reported in 2024 that Iran is pushing civilians to turn to national messenger apps such as Rubika, Bale and Eitaa. In their investigation they found that these three apps do not have end-to-end encryption, meaning, the messages are not only being received by the two parties. These three platforms shared a common “message exchange gateway”(MXB) that is controlled by the government and allows them to track and surveil civilians.
This is a surveillance risk that goes beyond borders. There are 200,465 Iranians that reside in Canada (statcan). Article 19 reports that those living abroad will be forced to use the domestic applications for interacting with personal matters or communicating with family members, thereby creating surveillance risks beyond Iran’s borders.
Internet Shutdown Leading to the Collapse of Iran’s Economy
Internet shutdown is a serious human rights violation that should be condemned and immediately addressed, but it also leaves Iran’s economy irreparable. The 2026 digital blackout imposed, leaves ten million at risk of losing their income, directly affecting their livelihood. (VOA). There are an estimated 700,000 Instagram shops, which are currently offline. Other online businesses and technology based work are also facing low activity and layoffs as a result of the net block. These risks are not limited to communication based-jobs but disrupting wider economic systems such as production, distribution, and market activity. Iranians are at a serious risk of economic collapse. Bulletin of the Atomic Students refers to NetBlocks’ Cost of Shutdown Tool (COST) which displays that one day of internet shutdown costs Iran’s economy $37.3 million. If the internet in Iran is not restored immediately, Iranian civilians will face worsening living conditions.
Why Canada Must Prioritize Iranian Civilians Access to an Open Internet
As a country that prioritizes freedom of speech and includes over 200,000 Iranian-Canadians, Canadian leaders need to address and condemn the Internet shutdown imposed by the Islamic regime in Iran. Applying diplomatic pressure on Iran’s government to restore internet access.
This is a serious censorship and surveillance risk that directly affects not only Iranians in Iran but the global community, including Canadians.
Canada must impose targeted sanctions on Iranian technology businesses that have been or are associated with implementing the digital blackout and the development of the National Internet Network (NIN) in Iran. This also includes sanctioning non-Iranian entities aiding the Iranian government in developing this repressive digital system.
While sanctions are an important first step, they are not solely sufficient in addressing the harms caused by Iran’s digital blackout. For this reason, all Islamic regime members and those complicit in the crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran should hold no place in Canada. These individuals must be barred from entry and subject to removal under Canadian law. Canada is a democratic nation, and prioritizing the safety of its citizens requires holding the Iranian government accountable while enforcing concrete strategies that prevent those complicit in its actions from finding safe haven in Canada.
Lastly, Canadians can work with thoroughly vetted technology companies to invest in censorship resistant internet tools that circumvent the Islamic regime’s net shutdown. This will help civilians in Iran to access the open internet, protecting their freedom of speech and their access to truthful news.
We encourage Canadians to share and express their concerns about the digital blackout in Iran. The dialogue of the global community is crucial in not only spreading awareness but also applying pressure on global governments to prioritize and assess the dangers of the censorship and surveillance tools being implemented by Iran.
By: Sheida Rafizadeh, Research Assistant, The Pearson Centre
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