After Sweeping Internet Blackout, Will Starlink Break the Restrictions Imposed on the Protests?

The US government has given SpaceX CEO Elon Musk the green light to activate the satellite internet service, Starlink, in order to help Iranians protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police.

Iran's sweeping internet blackouts made access to social media tightly restricted amid widespread outrage.

Major internet outages that were reported across the country on Saturday crippled communication between protesters and organizers, leaving millions of Iranians offline.

 

Elon Musk Efforts

A state of a near-total nationwide shutdown of online connectivity was covering Iran as protests over the death of Mahsa Amini have become increasingly violent.

Late Wednesday, much of the country, even the capital Tehran, was witnessing strong clashes between protesters and government forces.

Mobile phones were almost entirely disconnected on Thursday "while home broadband was severely disrupted in most of the flashpoint cities," Al-Monitor read.

Instagram and WhatsApp were also shut down for the first time, but some Iranians could log in after trying several anti-filtering software.

These restrictions pushed the US to give the green light to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to activate the firm's satellite internet service, Starlink.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the United States took action "to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information for [all] the Iranian people."

Despite US sanctions on the country, the US Treasury Department issued directions on Friday to expand internet services available to Iranians amid intense protests.

"Our understanding of Starlink is that what they provide would be commercial grade, and it would be hardware that's not covered in the general license; so that would be something they would need to write into Treasury for," a Treasury official said to reporters.

A US State Department spokesperson said later that "anyone who meets the criteria outlined in this general license can proceed with their activities without requesting additional permissions."

 

Reasons Behind the Shut

Despite not being the total internet shutdown of 2019, tech experts confirmed they are dealing with a similar pattern.

But first, let us look back at what happened three years ago, when Iranian authorities-imposed internet blackouts in an attempt to quell anti-government protests in 2019, the international community struggled to track the civilian carnage that followed.

What happened was intense protests of the outraged Iranian people taking to the streets to demonstrate after fuel prices surged as much as 300% overnight.

At that time, the New York Times reported that 450 people and even more were killed during four days of violent attacks between the Iranian authorities and the people. Thousands of protesters were wounded and detained while the country was plunged into digital darkness.

Reuters also commented on the events in a report saying 1,500 people were killed during a two-week span of turmoil.

The hard-line Tasnim news agency claimed that the Iranian government was trying to execute measures meant to prevent "communication and coordination among leaders of the riots."

Now Iran is using a similar tactic to crush the intense 2019 protests over fuel price hikes.

Iranians abroad did not stand idly. They launched an online campaign to draw international attention to the Iranian blackout.

Iranian actress Falamak Joneidi, living in the UK, wrote in her Instagram story: "Last time they did this, they killed more than 1,500 people…Be their voices."

Joneidi was certainly referring to the 2019 turmoil, when Iranian security forces killed more than 300 people, according to Amnesty International, but Reuters' reported numbers showed more than 1,500 deaths.

The demonstrations largely subsided after the internet blackouts, and this was actually the Iranian government's goal.

Despite attempts to hinder the Iranian people's "uprising," new protests were held on the sixth day after the death of Mahsa Amini.

Opposition outlets published many videos showing protesters clashing with armed riot police in Tehran.

At least 26 people have been killed over the past few days, confirmed State news.

To express solidarity, the hacktivist group Anonymous brought down, for hours, key Iranian government online platforms, including the website run by the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

 

Global Efforts

In light of the increasing protests in Iranian streets, efforts of international figures and authorities in providing internet via satellite have entered a more serious stage.

Former Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, announced on Twitter that he met a delegation from the European Parliament over the ongoing protests, saying: "The Iranian revolution needs international support."

"Our demands from Europe, [mainly from European technology companies] include direct and immediate support for Iran's protests, to provide internet," he added.

On the other hand, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called on Iranian security forces to refrain from using "unnecessary or disproportionate force" against anti-government protests and said: "We are concerned about reports of peaceful protests being met with excessive use of force leading to dozens of deaths and injuries."

Dujarric also called on the Iranian authorities "to respect the right to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association."

"We call on the security forces to refrain from unnecessary and disproportionate violence, and we ask everyone to exercise restraint to prevent further escalation of tensions," he added.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International restated its calls for urgent global action and warned of further bloodshed amid sweeping imposed internet blackouts.

Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International, said that "UN member states must go beyond toothless statements, hear the cries for justice from victims and human rights defenders in Iran, and urgently set up an independent UN investigative mechanism."

Signal also posted complete instructions on setting up servers to help Iranian users get access to the internet and asked for the cooperation of technology experts in the world willing to help the Iranian people.

After the US Treasury Department license to expand internet access to Iranians, Antony Blinken said these measures are intended to help counter Iran's efforts to censor citizens.

The tallest building in San Francisco will be lit until Sunday evening in solidarity with the Iranian people's public protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini's murder.

This lighting was designed by the Iranian artist Shaqeq Siros and supported by the Iranian American Women's Association.