NetBlocks Warns of Threats to Public Safety Following Internet Outage

NetBlocks, while warning about the thirteenth consecutive day of internet outage in Iran, described it as a threat to the health and security of the Iranian people.

The widespread internet outage in Iran, which is continuing for the thirteenth consecutive day, has once again drawn the attention of international bodies and human rights defenders. This disconnection not only undermines freedom of expression, but can also violate people’s right to access vital information for survival, contact with emergency services, and personal security.

NetBlocks, the global internet monitoring body, stated in its latest update that the widespread internet outage in Iran has entered its thirteenth consecutive day, and this situation “poses a direct threat to the safety, health, and security of Iranian citizens” and fundamentally violates the right to access vital information necessary for survival.

The organization emphasizes in its report: “By repeating similar policies in recent months, the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly cut off millions of people’s access to the global internet and proceeded to promote news blackouts, limit public communications, and control the flow of information in favor of suppression and maintaining political power.”

NetBlocks analysis shows that this is the third time the Iranian government has broadly cut public access to the internet. The first occurred during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last year (2025), and the second started from Thursday, December 9th, coinciding with the beginning of domestic protests known as the “National Revolution of Iran,” and now the internet outage has continued for the second consecutive week.

According to NetBlocks assessments, Iran has so far spent approximately one-quarter of 2026 without access to the global internet, an unprecedented figure that shows internet outages have become a recurring tool in suppression policy.

Digital rights experts and freedom of information advocates say these military and political measures, rather than responding to security threats, put pressure on civil society, silence the voices of dissidents, and cut people off from the outside world—measures that can have serious humanitarian and social consequences.

Internet outages go beyond limiting access to social networks or media. These restrictions can endanger people’s right to life, especially when access to information and communications becomes necessary for receiving emergency services.

For example, under normal circumstances, people use the internet to contact medical services, request ambulances, receive security alerts, or communicate with family and friends—something that during internet outages carries life-threatening and psychological risks. Doctors, social activists, and ordinary users have repeatedly emphasized on social networks that internet outages threaten not only freedom of expression, but also the fundamental right to life.

Human rights organizations and freedom of expression advocates, including NetBlocks, Reporters Without Borders, and the UN human rights section, have repeatedly warned against internet shutdown policies in Iran. They emphasize that internet access should be recognized as an essential tool for social participation, access to information, and the defense of human rights, not as a tool that governments cut off during times of crisis.

In published statements, human rights experts have described internet shutdowns as a form of “collective restriction” that can cause irreparable harm to people and civil society, especially at a time when people need access to information and free communications more than ever.

While Iranian officials often justify internet shutdowns with security reasons, analysts and social media users view this policy as a repressive tool that not only violates fundamental freedoms, but also creates direct threats to the health, security, and right to life of the Iranian people.

The right to access the internet and vital information that could save human lives (from contacting emergency services to receiving urgent news) should not become a casualty of suppressive policies.

In the midst of political and social crises, the question remains: Is internet shutoff in Iran a legitimate tool for security control, or a serious and unjustifiable violation of people’s fundamental rights?