Iran restores connectivity to create ‘limited amount of relief,’ censorship remains

The Islamic Republic has restored some internet connectivity, though usage levels remain below those recorded before the January protests, Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at the network intelligence platform Kentik, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.“This data just shows that the overall amount of traffic is less than pre Jan 8th levels and even less than the level we saw during the Jan 27 - Feb 28 period of partial restoration,” Madory said, sharing a graph dating back to December 15.Both Netblocks and Kentik reported a "partial" restoration of connectivity on Tuesday, though banned platforms such as Instagram, X/Twitter, and YouTube remain blocked, according to international media reports.“It would not surprise me that Iranian authorities would block social media,” he noted. “This has been common practice to some extent for many years in Iran.”The Iranian digital rights organization Filterbaan stressed that while the Mobile Communications Company of Iran had removed the sale page for Internet Pro packages, “the policy of 'limited access for all, special access for some' remains firmly in place within the decision-making structure.”The organization also denied the regime's claims that internet connectivity had been restored, stressing “the network is facing severe disruptions, and key and basic accesses such as Google Play remain cut off.”'A limited amount of relief'Theorizing why the regime restored only partial connectivity, Madory suggested it was intended to provide a limited amount of relief” while maintaining enough instability to ensure that censorship “circumvention tools such as VPNs don't work well.”While the regime's labor ministry denied last week that any job losses were caused by the internet shutdown, The New York Times reported earlier this month that officials estimated nearly two million people have lost work “directly or indirectly” both due to the internet blackout and the war with Israel.Analysts cited by Reuters estimated the blackout cost the Iranian economy as much as $80 million per day.Asher Smith contributed to this report.