Engineered Internet, a Silent Crime in the Shadow of Widespread Disruption

Engineered internet in Iran is a silent criminal narrative and widespread disruption that the government launched in a limited and weak manner for its own interests.

Following days of internet outages and widespread disruptions in Iran, evidence and reports indicate that what the Islamic Republic government presents as “internet restoration” is not a sign of normalization, but rather part of a controlled and security-oriented project. A project under whose shadow one of the greatest silent crimes against the Iranian people has been committed: the deliberate deprivation of citizens from communication, information dissemination, and digital security.

NetBlocks on Sunday, January 18, corresponding to December 28, noting the passage of 238 hours of widespread internet disruption in Iran, announced that traffic data shows access to some online services including Google has returned to a significant degree, indicating the activation of “heavily filtered” access.

This report clearly shows that the government, not out of accountability but solely to manage pressures and advance its own interests, has activated part of the internet in a limited and weak manner.

Coinciding with the observation of some limited movements in Iran’s internet on Saturday, December 27, and the arrival of messages from several users outside the country’s borders, the “Filterban” platform, which monitors Iran’s internet status and operates in the field of digital security and free internet access, warned about this situation.

Filterban emphasized in a post on its social networks that the government has not freed the internet and wrote: “The government is organizing its government whitelist.”

Based on data published by this platform, what is occurring is not internet restoration, but rather the temporary and selective opening of it to establish a “security whitelist.” Filterban has clarified that the internet has only been activated for individuals who are on specific security lists or who use so-called white SIM cards. This situation by no means signifies a normalization of conditions or the return of free internet access for the general public.

The totality of this evidence shows that the Islamic Republic government, through internet cuts and control, has deliberately placed the Iranian people in unsafe, isolated, and defenseless conditions, and at the same time, whenever its political and security interests have required, has reduced the severity of this disruption in a limited and superficial manner. A crime whose consequences extend beyond a technical outage and directly affect citizens’ right to life, security, and freedom.