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How is the internet shutdown in Iran affecting people?
2026-04-22 21:14:09 / BOTA
Iran has been under a near-total internet blackout since February 28, but some people have access. Although authorities have rejected a so-called "tiered" access system, Iran has granted selective access to certain groups.
Besides some like journalists and users who had access from day one, access has recently been granted to groups such as business owners, university lecturers, and most recently, doctors.
But what happens to those whose work relies on the internet and who are not part of the selected groups?
Iran's communications minister says about 10 million people, out of a population of about 90 million, depend on stable internet and that the constant outage threatens their jobs.
The BBC writes that some of them have had to pay large sums to purchase connections, mainly run through Starlink devices, which are themselves illegal in Iran.
The BBC has spoken to several people whose livelihoods depend on creating content on social media and they have lost large chunks of their income due to the outage.
"My income has been reduced by a third since the shutdown," one freelance teacher told the BBC. He said he is using a home-based messaging app to deliver his lessons.
An official from the Iranian Chamber of Commerce estimated last week that internet outages cost $30-40 million a day in direct losses and $70-80 million, including indirect impacts.
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