Internet access and telephone lines were cut overnight on 8 January by the Iranian regime following nationwide protests, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Plunged into a blackout, journalists inside the country are now unable to communicate with the outside world. RSF is deeply concerned about the fate of media professionals on the ground, including Narges Mohammadi and the 23 other journalists currently detained in the country. The NGO is calling on the international community to pressure the Iranian regime to restore access to information in the country.
“RSF expresses its deep concern for Iranian journalists, particularly those covering the protest movement in the country. The nationwide communications blackout in place since 8 January, the threats against journalists covering the protests, and the recent arrests of Narges Mohammadi, Alieh Motalabzadeh, and Sepideh Gholian illustrate a highly alarming escalation in repressive measures. This increasingly intimidating climate cannot be tolerated. The right of the Iranian people and the international community to be informed must be respected. To this end, RSF calls for the immediate restoration of telecommunications and the release of the 24 journalists detained in the country.
Since 8 p.m. on 8 January, almost no calls to or from Iran have been possible via applications or telephone lines, according to RSF. “When you try to call, a recorded message […] is played,” Amir Rashidi, an Iranian telecommunications expert, posted on his X account. RSF encountered the same difficulties when attempting to contact sources in the country on 9 January. News websites and Telegram news channels operating from Iran have also been prevented from continuing their work. Only the telegram channel Tasnim — affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the armed branch of the regime under the power of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei — has been publishing news since 9 January at noon. It has notably only shared official state propaganda regarding the protests.
Online applications commonly used by Iranians to circumvent restrictions are also no longer functioning. The app Yolla, for example, which allows international calls, now displays the following message: “Due to local restrictions and nationwide network issues during the conflict, calls to Iran may be limited or unavailable.” Only limited connectivity via the Starlink satellite network remains available in certain parts of the country, but according to reports it is slow and unstable. According to Internet outage monitoring group NetBlocks, Iran’s internet network has been completely blocked since the evening of 8 January. This shutdown also disrupts the use of encrypted messaging applications such as Signal, according to data published by the collaborative observatory OONI.
Intimidated journalists
In the days leading up to 8 January, at least six media professionals received threats from the intelligence service of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to RSF. These independent journalists, who wish to remain anonymous, were warned not to publish information on the wave of protests over the deteriorating economic situation that has been shaking the Islamic Republic since 28 December 2025, failing which they face imprisonment.
Arrests marking the latest wave of repression began in December 2025
On 12 December in the city of Mashhad, northeastern Iran, authorities arrested journalist Alieh Motalabzadeh, writer and independent journalist Sepideh Gholian, and human rights defender, writer, journalist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, along with at least 50 other people attending the funeral of a prominent lawyer who died under suspicious circumstances. According to the Free Narges coalition, of which RSF is a founding member, Narges Mohammadi has since been held in solitary confinement and subjected to a total ban on communication with the outside world, with the exception of a single phone call made in recent days.
“I am deeply worried about my mother and everyone who has been arrested,” said her son, Ali Rahmani, who is currently exiled in Paris. “The Islamic Republic must release them immediately. I call on everyone to mobilise in support of political prisoners in Iran and to demand their unconditional release.”
Today, 24 journalists are held in detention, including 17 who were arrested during the previous wave of protests on 22 September2022, following the death of Kurdish student Jina Mahsa Amini, which sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in the country.
