![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May-NO-BG-Disruption-EN-300x120.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Iranians went almost the entire month of May without reliable internet access. For at least 26 days, nationwide throttling and periods of near-total internet (mobile data) shutdowns impacted users in localities across the country.\u00a0 Disruptions began on May 6 in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, major disruptions occurred nationwide as well. Shutdowns and throttling coincided at times with protests and social unrest sparked by potential increases in food prices<\/a> and a fatal collapse<\/a> of a ten-story tower, the Metropol Building<\/a>, which was under construction in the city of Abadan.<\/p>\n Authorities employed various internet disruptions methods that shifted day-to-day and locality-to-locality, which potentially reflects provincial level decision making<\/a>. The majority of disruptions included shutting down access to international sites and services on mobile data or throttling international bandwidth on mobile and (home\/office) broadband networks. On occasion, Iran-based sites and services were all throttled.<\/p>\n During\u00a0 these disruption episodes, Iranian authorities also appeared to test new, more sophisticated<\/a> strategies for using Iran\u2019s local network, the National Information Network (NIN), to limit internet access.<\/p>\n Lack of available, nuanced data and official admission by authorities or Internet Service Providers, however, make it difficult to determine all the details of each disruption episode over the month. This report provides Filterwatch\u2019s best assessment given what is known. The findings and data presented here is based on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the past, Iranian officials have issued statements and comments in response to\u00a0 internet shutdowns and tried to provide reasons or justifications. However,\u00a0 this time, officials were mostly silent with the exception of <\/span>Eisa Zarepour<\/span><\/a>, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, who denied bandwidth throttling in a statement on May 18.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI deny that we have reduced the country's bandwidth,\u201d he <\/span>said.<\/span><\/a> However, he did not make any comments about the internet shutdown.<\/span><\/p>\n On May 24, ISNA News Agency reported an internet <\/span>shutdown<\/span><\/a> in the city of Abadan and confirmed it.<\/span><\/p>\n In a novel approach that lasted four days, nationwide authorities seemed to schedule their disruptions based on the time-of-day. Effectively they shutdown mobile data starting\u00a0 midday. From May 17 to 20, however, users across Khuzestan, and in particular in the cities of Ahvaz, Andimeshk and Dezful, could generally connect to the mobile internet until around noon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the afternoons, 4G and 3G networks would be completely cut off as this image demonstrates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After several hours of a complete shutdown, around dusk, mobile data was restored but only the national intranet was connected<\/a> and remained the same until the next day around noon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The reasoning for scheduling such disruptions throughout the day is unclear.\u00a0 It is possible that authorities believe that\u00a0 people are more likely to organize or protest during certain hours. In contrast, later in\u00a0 May, shutdowns and throttling appeared to be less planned and more reactive based on the sensitivities and analysis of security forces at the neighborhood, city, or provincial level.<\/p>\n Another new strategy shows that the Iranian government is now using the NIN in a more sophisticated way.<\/p>\n Previously, we were dealing with two main strategies, either there was a total internet shutdown or only an international internet shutdown. Meaning (1) the entire network(s) was cut off or (2) only the international internet connection was cut and local services on the NIN were accessible.<\/p>\n Since November 2019, the second type of shutdown has been the norm when authorities seek to limit or suppress protests. On May 19th, Filterwatch received a video<\/a> from a trusted source in Khuzestan that showed just how real users could access the Iran-based network but were blocked from the outside world. This video<\/a> demonstrates that local websites and services, such as Digikala<\/a> (similar to Amazon<\/a>) and Aparat<\/a> (similar to Youtube<\/a>), are accessible while Google is not.<\/p>\n \"\u0648\u0636\u0639\u06cc\u062a \u062f\u0633\u062a\u0631\u0633\u06cc \u0628\u0647 #\u0627\u06cc\u0646\u062a\u0631\u0646\u062a<\/a> \u062f\u0631 \u0628\u0631\u062e\u06cc \u0627\u0632 \u0634\u0647\u0631\u0647\u0627\u06cc #\u062e\u0648\u0632\u0633\u062a\u0627\u0646<\/a> \u062f\u0631 \u0633\u0627\u0639\u0627\u062a \u062a\u0627\u0631\u06cc\u06a9\u06cc \u0634\u0628 \"#\u0641\u06cc\u0644\u062a\u0631\u0646\u062a<\/a> #InternetShutdowns<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OVZr60EdYY<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Filterbaan | \u0641\u06cc\u0644\u062a\u0631\u0628\u0627\u0646 (@filterbaan) May 20, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Filterwatch argues<\/a> that this method of shutdown minimizes the economic and social effects of shutdowns, because most day-to-day services continue (e.g., local banking, ridesharing apps, e-commerce).<\/p>\n Filterwatch observed a change in the disruption pattern, however, after a new wave of protests spread and quickly grew following the collapse<\/a> of the Metropol building and the protests. Iranian authorities appeared to react by maintaining their shutdown of the international network and throttling the NIN. As you can see in this video<\/a>, not only is the international internet not accessible, but also because of localized bandwidth throttling, local services and sites were so slow that they were effectively inaccessible. Moreover, the authorities work with such surgical precision that they were able to\u00a0 fully exclude their preferred sites and many government websites from throttling. As shown in the video, the Supreme Leader\u2019s website was unaffected by the disruptions.<\/p>\n \u06af\u0632\u0627\u0631\u0634 \u06a9\u0627\u0631\u0628\u0631\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0632 \u0648\u0636\u0639\u06cc\u062a \u0627\u06cc\u0646\u062a\u0631\u0646\u062a \u062f\u0631 \u0622\u0628\u0627\u062f\u0627\u0646:#\u0627\u06cc\u0646\u062a\u0631\u0646\u062a_\u0647\u0645\u0631\u0627\u0647<\/a> \u062e\u0637\u0647\u0627\u06cc #\u0627\u06cc\u0631\u0627\u0646\u0633\u0644<\/a> \u0648 #\u0647\u0645\u0631\u0627\u0647_\u0627\u0648\u0644<\/a> \u062a\u0642\u0631\u06cc\u0628\u0627 \u062f\u0631 \u062a\u0645\u0627\u0645\u06cc \u0645\u062d\u0644\u0647\u200c\u0647\u0627\u06cc #\u0622\u0628\u0627\u062f\u0646<\/a> \u0642\u0637\u0639 \u0648 #\u0627\u06cc\u0646\u062a\u0631\u0627\u0646\u062a<\/a> (\u0633\u0627\u06cc\u062a\u200c\u0647\u0627 \u0648 \u0633\u0631\u0648\u06cc\u0633\u200c\u0647\u0627\u06cc \u062f\u0627\u062e\u0644 \u0627\u06cc\u0631\u0627\u0646) \u0628\u0631\u0642\u0631\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0633\u062a.#\u0641\u06cc\u0644\u062a\u0631\u0646\u062a<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Y9MEPSlkpw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Filterbaan | \u0641\u06cc\u0644\u062a\u0631\u0628\u0627\u0646 (@filterbaan) May 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sometime in the second week of May, a source informed FilterWatch that \u201cthe Iranian government might distribute some proxies of VPNs among people who are protesting\u201d. \u201cThis might be a pilot test for a legal VPN to show users how good this idea is\u201d, added the informed source who talked to FilterWatch on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n In the midst of shutdowns on international networks and throttling the local network, unknown vendors began promoting multiple \u201csolutions\u201d to the internet shutdown.<\/p>\n On several Telegram channels, these unknown vendors promoted VPNs to locals in Abadan and other cities of Khuzestan, where the shutdown was most intense.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They sold VPSs and other types of circumvention tools that were used on Google Outline, Porton VPN, Shadowsocks or other apps and technologies to reach local servers that could channel the entire traffic to another server outside of Iran. These tools were promised to (1) bypass the shutdown of the internal internet and (2) offer a half-price data cost<\/a> to surf the NIN. Testing showed that these circumvention tools did as promised.<\/p>\n These tools might be a pilot version of the Legal VPN<\/a> project. For years, authorities have been promising to roll out state sanctioned VPNs that could enable \u201cqualified individuals\u201d access to otherwise blocked content and servers.<\/p>\n We have identified at least five Telegram channels with the same business and all of them were created in March. Because of similar language, admin names, tools, training videos or GIF animation and other material in those channels, it looks like all of them are run by the same group.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While it is unclear who was selling these circumvention tools, it seems somewhat unlikely anyone could do so without some level of official approval, as in one channel they confirmed these tools are \u201dlegal\u201d.<\/p>\n Timeline of internet shutdowns, throttling, and disruptions based on regions and cities.<\/em><\/p>\n NOTE:\u00a0 In some cases, the available data allows Filterwatch to determine if the disruption is a type of shutdown of access or throttling (i.e., a dramatic slowing of connection speeds). In other cases, we are only able to observe a disruption or outage without more specificity.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Iranians went almost the entire month of May without reliable internet access. For at least 26 days, nationwide throttling and periods of near-total internet (mobile data) shutdowns impacted users in localities across the country.\u00a0 Disruptions began on May 6 in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, major disruptions occurred nationwide as well. Shutdowns and throttling coincidedContinue reading \"Network Monitor: From Internet Shutdowns To A Pilot Version of a Legal VPN\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-monitor","entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May-NO-BG-Terms-300x110.png\")
<\/p>\nEmerging Strategies<\/span><\/h2>\n
Iranian Officials\u2019 Reactions<\/span><\/h3>\n
Scheduling Disruption\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture1-293x300.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture2-300x184.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture3-224x300.jpg\")
Cutting international Internet access while throttling the local network<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
Potential Pilot Version of Legal VPN<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture4.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture5.jpg\")
Timeline of Regional Disruptions<\/h1>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture1-1-300x190.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture2-1-300x188.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture3-Hamadan-300x187.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture4-300x188.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture5-Qazvinpng-300x189.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture6-300x190.png\")
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture7-300x188.png\")
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture8-Ardabil-300x186.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture9-300x188.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture10-Bushehr-300x190.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture-11-300x188.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Picture12Gilan-300x210.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May19-300x219.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May20-300x210.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May22-300x217.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May22Fars-300x221.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May22Hormoz-300x219.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May23a-300x213.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May23b-300x216.jpg\")
\u00a0<\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May23c-300x217.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May23d-300x210.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May24-300x210.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May25-300x210.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May26a-300x210.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May26b-300x215.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May26c-300x213.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May26d-300x214.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May26e-300x213.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May26f-300x214.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May28a-300x215.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May28b-300x216.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May28c-300x215.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/May28d-300x219.png\")
<\/p>\nProvider Outages<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/AfraRasa-300x190.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Data-300x190.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Fonoun-300x190.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/Spadana-300x190.png\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"