The Iranian authorities have reportedly blocked access to the mobile internet network. Access to social networks was also blocked, with Instagram and Whatsapp put out of use after six days of protest for the death of Massa Amini, the 22-year-old who died while she was in the custody of the moral police for not wearing the hijab correctly.
The complaint of the blocking of the mobile internet comes from Netblock, one of the most authoritative observers of the global internal network capable of identifying blocks and problems to the networks in real time. According to a graph published by the group, in these hours there are heavy losses of connectivity on a national scale throughout the country, especially on the main Iranian mobile phone operator, Mci First mobile.
“By decision of the authorities, it is no longer possible to access Instagram from Wednesday evening. Access to WhatsApp has also been interrupted,” reported the Fars news agency. The measure, the agency continues, was taken because of “the actions carried out by the counter-revolutionaries against national security through these social networks”. Instagram and WhatsApp have been the most used apps in Iran since the blocking of platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and Tiktok in recent years.
On Twitter, in response to Netblock, Instagram confirms the block, but is keen to clarify that it has done nothing in this sense, indirectly pointing the finger at the Iranian authorities: “We are not intentionally interrupting access to our platform, nor are we blocking Iranian numbers. We do everything in our technical power to maintain our services and allow the use of all users in the world. ”