So, Iran’s internet blackout in 2025? Absolute disaster, honestly—especially with the war ramping up. Imagine waking up in Tehran and realizing your phone’s pretty much just a brick. By mid-June, internet traffic nosedived—54% down on June 13th and then another 90% by June 18th. You’d think it’s a bad Wi-Fi day, but nope, it’s the whole country.
The government keeps saying, “Oh, it’s cyberattacks!”—like that Bank Sepah hack. Okay, sure. Meanwhile, 80% of top sites are blocked. It’s not just another random outage. This is 2019 and 2022 protest suppression vibes all over again, just with more drama.
How the Shutdown Messes with Daily Life
Let’s not sugarcoat it: 90 million people basically cut off from the world. People can’t talk, can’t work, can’t even check if there’s a missile heading their way. The last time they pulled this, the economy lost over a billion dollars. And now, with VPNs barely working, most folks are stuck with whatever the state TV wants to tell them. Good luck finding out what’s really going on.
10 Ways the Iran Internet Blackout Smashes Daily Life in 2025
- Radio Silence with Family Seriously, it’s heartbreaking. People in Tehran go days without a “hey, are you okay?” WhatsApp and Telegram? Dead. A teacher in Paris said, “Messages don’t deliver.” That’s someone’s mom, dad, sibling… just in the dark.
- No Emergency Alerts Missile warning? Evacuation order? Yeah, those are coming through Instagram or Telegram—except now they’re not. Civilians are left guessing where the next bomb will fall. That’s just… not okay.
- Online Businesses Tank If you run a shop or trade in those massive Telegram groups (some have 800,000 people!), you’re out of luck. Zero sales, zero income, and no idea when things will come back. That’s a lot of empty wallets.
- News Black Hole No YouTube. No Insta. No BBC or whatever. State TV is all you’ve got—and they’re not exactly big on the whole “both sides of the story” thing. Most folks have no clue what’s actually happening.
- Ride-Hailing & GPS Fail Hard If you drive for Snapp or just need Google Maps to get around Tehran, tough luck. GPS is out. Drivers can’t work. People get stuck or lost. Total mess.
- State Media Overload All anyone hears is what the government wants to say—wall-to-wall coverage of Iran’s own strikes, but barely a whisper about what’s actually hitting home.
- Banking? Forget It Hacking plus blackout equals total financial chaos. That $90 million Nobitex crypto hack? Just one example. People can’t transfer money, withdraw cash, or even check balances.
- VPNs? LOL, Good Luck Everyone uses VPNs in Iran—well, tried to. Now, even those are failing. Proxy links sometimes work, but only for a minute. Blink and you’re blocked again.
- Social Isolation Hits Hard When SMS and calls also start flaking, you’re literally walled in. One student said, “It’s like being walled in.” No exaggeration.
- Activists Silenced If you’re trying to organize, protest, or just share what’s happening? Forget it. The blackout kills digital activism—just like in 2019.
How to Survive When the Net’s Gone
Here’s what people are actually doing to stay afloat:
- Proxy links (until they get blocked)
- Starlink terminals (if you’re lucky enough to get one)
- Landlines (old school but sometimes they work)
- Passing info by word-of-mouth (gossip, but make it lifesaving)
- Checking the #IranBlackout2025 hashtag (when/if Instagram loads for a second)
It’s wild out there. If you want more tips or resources on how people deal with this stuff or just wanna keep up with digital rights in crisis zones, yeah—stick around. This story isn’t going away anytime soon.
