IRAN - Digital-Apartheid-State-Killing

IRAN - Thousands of people arrested in Iran for “contacts with foreign media”

April 13, 2026:

April 13, 2026 - IRAN. Digital Apartheid & State Killing in Iran—-2 pillars of Islamic Republic’s “Gross Human Rights Violations”

The West seems concerned only with its own ‘freedom of expression’, not that of the Iranian people

Once again, upon opening social media, we were immediately confronted with new threats from officials and elements associated with the Islamic Republic on their television screens. This is a new method of threatening and intimidating society by these individuals to ensure their threats reach all opponents within Iran, lest anyone again harbor the thought of taking to the streets for freedom and to obtain their and their compatriots’ basic human rights.

Media as a Weapon; Justification for Absolute Silence
On April 11, Abdollahi stated on the Noor Network:
“Look, the first thing a government must do is take away the media tools and weaponry from the enemy. Instagram was the enemy’s weapon; it had ceased to be a mere media tool. Telegram had become a weapon. We have managed to turn off the weaponry for now; this machine gun has been silenced. After all, we do not know in which direction the country’s conditions are heading; we must prepare ourselves for the worst-case scenario.”
These remarks clearly demonstrate the reason for depriving 90 million people of communication with the world and stripping them of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom. Now, for more than 1,000 hours, Iran has been hidden under a veil of digital silence, while the Islamic Republic regime speaks of “cyber authority”—an authority that should, in reality, be called “Digital Apartheid” and “security desperation.”

Ideological Hostage-Taking of the Internet and Global Isolation
While public opinion and the digital economy are collapsing under the weight of this unprecedented isolation, the sovereign narratives used to justify this blackout reveal devastating contradictions. The government spokesperson ties this situation to “war conditions,” the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Technology (according to the Shargh newspaper) calls it “repelling cyber-attacks,” but ultimately, recent confessions regarding the granting of internet access on the condition of “reproducing the government narrative” strip away the mask from an ideological hostage-taking and a gross violation of freedom of choice and expression.
An anatomy of the officials’ statements, alongside an analysis of Iran’s sociological and security realities, shows that the 45-day internet blackout is not a “defensive measure,” but a combination of “social suppression” and the official inauguration of “Media Apartheid.”
On April 12, 2026, Ali Hakim-Javadi, the head of the Information Technology Guild Organization spoke regarding the selective connection of certain businesses. More importantly, there was the shocking confession of government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani on March 9, 2026 (19 Esfand 1404), where she stated that unrestricted internet is provided for those who “can further amplify the voice of the Islamic Republic.”
These statements prove that the internet blackout has nothing to do with external attacks. These confessions show that the ruling regime is creating a “Digital Apartheid.” You only have the right to connect to the free world if you are a megaphone for government propaganda. Relying on the strategy of “darkening” and using the “Kill Switch” serves as a cover for gross human rights violations by a government that fears its own people most. The primary goal of this blocking is to stifle the voice of civil society and monopolize the narrative. […]

For the thousands of arrests made in Iran in recent weeks on charges of “contacts with foreign media”, see HoC 10/03/2026; 12/03/2026; 14/03/2026; 16/03/2026; 20/03/2026 (x2); 23/03/2026; 24/03/2026; 25/03/2026; 26/03/2026; 27/03/2026 (x4); 29/03/2026; 30/03/2026; 31/03/2026; 01/04/2026 (x2); 02/04/2026; 3 April 2026; 6 April 2026; 7 April 2026 (x3); 8 April 2026; 9 April 2026 (x5); 10 April 2026; 13 April 2026 (x3); 14 April (x3).

https://iran-hrm.com/2026/04/13/digital-apartheid-state-killing-in-iran/