According to real-time data from NetBlocks, traffic volumes have nosedived, rendering international websites and apps unusable for most users. The government’s response has funneled all activity onto the National Information Network (NIN), a segregated ‘Halal Net’ designed for internal use only.

This homegrown system prioritizes vital services—think government sites and domestic banking—while enforcing a whitelist regime. Every site must be explicitly cleared by authorities as ‘safe’ or ‘halal’ to load, a far cry from the blacklist filters common elsewhere that merely block select content.

Residents report being able to handle local transactions or access approved news feeds, but efforts to reach family abroad or scroll social media hit dead ends. It’s a replay of the 2026 protest crackdowns, where similar shutdowns crushed online organizing.

The economic toll is already evident, with e-commerce halted and remote work impossible. Critics slam the blackout as digital authoritarianism, aimed at controlling narratives amid internal unrest. As Iran hunkers down in this self-imposed silo, the world watches a nation retreat further from the connected globe.