Urgent Appeal: Internet Shutdown in Iran as a Tool for Concealing Human Rights Violations

Written by ACI in 19 June 25

The Association des Chercheurs Iraniens (ACI) urgently calls on the international community to take immediate steps to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable for its escalating use of internet shutdowns and digital censorship. In the context of intensifying military conflict and rising civilian casualties, recent blanket restrictions on internet access appear designed not merely for “security” purposes, but to conceal widespread repression, arrests, and grave human rights violations

Issued by: Association des Chercheurs Iraniens (ACI)
Date: June 2025

The Association des Chercheurs Iraniens (ACI) urgently calls on the international community to take immediate steps to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable for its escalating use of internet shutdowns and digital censorship. In the context of intensifying military conflict and rising civilian casualties, recent blanket restrictions on internet access appear designed not merely for “security” purposes, but to conceal widespread repression, arrests, and grave human rights violations.

In a testimony received from a lawyer inside Iran, the internet blackout has been described as an attempt to “hide a humanitarian catastrophe in progress.” The lawyer refers to this act as a “white crime”—a silent, undocumented form of violence enabled by digital isolation. According to the statement, the current shutdown:

  • Obstructs access to life-saving information, including alerts and humanitarian aid
  • Blocks communication with families and human rights organisations
  • Prevents documentation of arbitrary arrests, raids, and potential war crimes
  • Undermines transparency, justice, and the rule of law

The Islamic Republic has provided no legal justification or public explanation for the shutdown, despite Iranian law requiring formal authorisation for such actions. Security agencies have reportedly imposed this digital blackout without accountability or judicial oversight. In addition, lawyers, human rights defenders, and civil society actors are being arrested or silenced, further heightening concerns that the blackout is a tool for hiding a crackdown.

ACI warns that without internet access, evidence of abuses—including extrajudicial detentions, torture, or attacks on civilians—will go unreported and uninvestigated. This includes the risk of obscuring potential war crimes committed by external actors amid the ongoing conflict.

We call on the international community to:

  • Publicly condemn Iran’s internet shutdown as part of its broader repression infrastructure
  • Recognise digital censorship as a human rights violation, and not merely a technical or security matter
  • Use diplomatic and legal mechanisms to pressure Iranian authorities to restore full, uncensored access
  • Ensure that international agencies and rapporteurs can receive, verify, and preserve documentation from within Iran despite these restrictions

The international community must not remain silent in the face of this blackout. To ignore these shutdowns is to ignore the abuses they are designed to conceal.