Iran International (English) – January 24, 2026
By: Emilia James
“Iran’s near-total internet blackout since January 8 did not only shut down social media but collapsed the country’s last channels to the outside world, isolating families and sharply limiting what evidence of the crackdown could escape.
“The shutdown, imposed on January 8 as protests spread nationwide, follows a familiar pattern in the Islamic Republic’s response to unrest. But its scale and duration have once again exposed a critical vulnerability for both Iranians and the outside world: when domestic networks go dark, how does information still get out?
“The answer lies in a narrow and increasingly contested ecosystem of satellite-based and offline technologies that operate beyond Iran’s communications infrastructure.
“Among the actors working in that space is NetFreedom Pioneers (NFP), a US-based nonprofit that has spent more than a decade developing tools for societies living under digital repression.
“’People in Iran are asking for basic freedoms and basic livelihoods, and they are facing live fire,’ said Evan Firoozi, NFP’s executive director. ‘The question is whether the outside world can still see what is happening.‘”
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Read the full article at Iran International.