Iran: how the Islamic Republic uses internet shutdowns as a tool of repression

By Dr Konstantinos Mersinas, Senior Lecturer in Information Security, Royal Holloway, University of London
Francesco Ferazza, PhD researcher, department of Information Security, Royal Holloway, University of London

When a protest by angry traders about what they see as the Islamic Republic’s poor handling of the economy morphed into a national uprising across Iran, the authorities moved quickly to shut down the internet. It’s a tactic the regime has used before. Closing down communications makes it harder for resistance to organise. It also makes it hard for people protesting in Iran to communicate with and enlist support from the outside world.

Authoritarian regimes, such as the Islamic Republic in Iran,…

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