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The morality police of Tehran arrested 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini on September 14 for not wearing the compulsory hijab in public. Three days later, Iranian authorities reported Amini’s alleged heart attack, causing her death.
When news of Amini’s death was publicised, thousands of Iranians took to the streets in protest. Protesters in different cities burned vehicles and even police stations. Soon, dozens of videos of demonstrations in various towns surfaced on Instagram, posted by a particular 1500tasvir account.
The account was set up in 2019 after the widespread protests where hundreds of people were allegedly killed by the police. The account is managed by around ten people, both inside and outside the country, who work to post videos of different protests as they occur.
The account has more than 450,000 followers, which is ideal for spreading awareness of the protests. The government’s response was to shut down the internet as the protests around Amini’s death gained momentum.
The shutdown caught the attention of multiple internet-monitoring organisations like Kentik, Netblocks, Cloudflare, Open Observatory of Network Interference and NGO Access Now. According to these watch organisations, mobile network providers like Irancell, Rightel, and MCI experienced rolling blackouts.
Mobile providers lost connectivity for around 12 hours as if connectivity had a curfew. NGO Access Now’s Felicia Anthonio claims their partners reported that text messages containing Amini’s name had been blocked. “If you’re sending a message containing that name, it doesn’t go through.” Anthonio states.
Many people soon noticed that Instagram and WhatsApp had been blocked. These two social media apps joined Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which were banned years prior. State-backed Iranian media announced that it is uncertain when the blocks on Instagram and WhatsApp will be lifted, only stating that it was put in place due to national security reasons.
Director of digital rights and security of Miaan Group Amir Rashidi believes that Iranian officials are utilising a known tactic in shutting down the internet. But his goal is to help Iranians deal with internet shutdowns, but he is having challenges making the user’s landline make a connection simply because it is slow.
But despite the circumstances, Rashidi feels that the events may unify Iranians and lead the nation to a new chapter.
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