NewsDiego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsHuman Rights Watch on Friday urged authorities in Iran to lift its restrictions on internet and communication services, citing concerns that civilians will be left unable to access potentially lifesaving information in the midst of the widespread conflict between it and the US.
Stressing the importance of allowing Iranians to have access to internet, Tomiwa Ilori, senior technology and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch stated: “Shutting down the internet during times of crisis restricts access to lifesaving information, such as where strikes are taking place and how to safely access medical care. Internet shutdowns can also contribute to severe psychological harm on people during the conflict as they are unable to contact their loved ones.”
Internet connectivity has been significantly disrupted since the beginning of the conflict, with Cloudfare Radar, a public tool and intelligence platform which provides real-time insights into internet activity, stating that internet traffic in Iran dropped by around 98 percent on the February 28, 2026. Back in early January 2026, when widespread protests and the severe government repression was intensifying, the Iranian regime had turned off access to internet services, with an estimated 92 million citizens being left in a state of peril. This pattern of blocking reliable access to the internet has been criticized by activists as being a form of digital isolation, with similar incidents occurring in 2019 during protests and again in 2022 after anger erupted over the murder of Mahsa Amini.
The strategic reasoning driving the restrictive measures undertaken by the Iranian authorities is essentially divided into two distinct objectives, the first of which involves actively sabotaging the ability of domestic activist groups to organize effectively or establish communication with external allies. The internet blackout also functions as a mechanism of information control designed to avoid both local citizens and the international media from obtaining independent verification of the realities unfolding across the country. Limiting access to the internet means that it would be a challenging task for proper documentation of the commission of crimes against humanity, shielding perpetrators from scrutiny and depriving survivors of justice.
The Iranian regime has also resorted to manufacturing a discriminatory model known as the “tiered internet,” which offers fast internet access to state bodies and trusted individuals, but affords relatively slow internet access to civilians, leading to a “digital caste system.”
The prohibition of access to the internet during times of conflict is a violation of international human rights law principles. Although governments may justify their actions by saying that it is necessary for national security, it is global consensus that such measures should satisfy the proportionality and military necessity threshold.