Iran Builds a Digital “Berlin Wall” as Regime Seals Off Nation From the World

Iran Builds a Digital “Berlin Wall” as Regime Seals Off Nation From the World

Emmitt Barry

Iran’s Islamic regime has effectively erected a modern-day Berlin Wall — not of concrete and barbed wire, but of cables, servers, and state-controlled silence — as it plunges the country into a near-total internet blackout to crush nationwide protests and shield its violence from global scrutiny.

As Iran remains largely disconnected from the global internet, the crackdown has intensified on every front. The regime is no longer merely suppressing demonstrations; it is isolating an entire population, cutting more than 90 million people off from one another and from the outside world in what critics describe as a deliberate strategy of digital imprisonment.

According to NetBlocks, Iran’s shutdown has now lasted more than a week and a half, leaving the population “cut off from the world and unable to contact their loved ones.” Internet traffic data indicates the regime is implementing a “whitelisting” system, selectively allowing access only to a narrow list of government-approved websites — a tactic reminiscent of Cold War-era information control.

This digital wall is being enforced alongside escalating physical repression. Iran’s national police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, has issued protesters a three-day ultimatum to surrender themselves or face prosecution. While offering nominal leniency to what he described as “misled youth,” Radan warned that organizers and leaders of the protests would be pursued “to the last one,” signaling that arrests and executions are far from over.

The regime has also moved aggressively to silence any internal dissent or sympathy for protesters. Iran’s second-largest mobile operator, Irancell, was thrown into turmoil after its chief executive, Alireza Rafiei, was fired for refusing to comply with government orders to cut internet access. Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency reported that Rafiei’s dismissal followed the company’s refusal to implement blackout instructions during what authorities labeled an “emergency,” and that legal action against him is expected.

Cultural and civil society figures have also been targeted. Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported that prosecutors have opened criminal cases against 15 athletes and actors, 10 cultural figures connected to Iran’s film industry, and 60 cafes accused of supporting protests or spreading calls to demonstrate. Some have already had assets seized, with courts weighing financial penalties for alleged “damages” caused by unrest.

Even limited reformist voices have been shut down. The newspaper Ham-Mihan was ordered closed by Iran’s Press Supervisory Board after publishing articles that compared the current unrest to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and examined the conduct of hospitals during the crackdown — topics the regime now treats as forbidden.

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