Iranians asked to remove WhatsApp as internet restrictions intensify
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- On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, Iran’s authorities called on all citizens to remove WhatsApp from their devices
- On Wednesday, Netblocks reported an almost total internet blackout throughout the country
- Authorities restored access to WhatsApp in December 2024 after more than 2 years of prohibition
Iran has called on his citizens to remove WhatsApp from their smartphones with fear that the Message Service has become a source of strategic information for his opponent in his current conflict.
When Reported by the Associated PressThe Iranian state of television shared the warning on Tuesday 17 June, “claiming without specific evidence that the Message app collected user information to send to Israel”.
Meta, the company behind WhatsApp, has strongly rejected these allegations and said that it is “concerned that these false reports will be an excuse that our services are blocked at a time when people need them most,” AP reported.
Iran recently recovered access to WhatsAppIn December 2024, after a two -year ban that followed the mass protests of the country about the death of Mahsa Jhina Amini by the Morality Police of Iran.
Now internet restrictions have been intensified throughout the country since Friday, after the first Israeli air strikes, where many citizens resort to the VPN Apps to stay connected.
On Wednesday, June 18, internet watchdog Netblocks recorded “An almost-to-do internet blockout” throughout the country.
Iran’s shrinking internet space
As the conflict gets deeper, people in Iran are increasingly demolished from the global internet.
Limitations imposed by the government started last Friday (13 June), after threats of legal actions by the public prosecutor of Iran against Media and Social Media for content that “disrupts the psychological safety of society” Iranwire reported.
This has one Surge of VPN -Question in Iran That achieved peaks with an increase of more than 700% on Sunday.
There have also been Reports of VPN -Shrottling Users note that their VPN apps only work sporadically. Talk to TechRadar, Proton VPN In addition to a significant VPN performance in the region, confirmed the usage pike.
⚠️ confirmed: live network data show that #iran is now in the middle of an almost total national internet blockout; The incident follows a series of earlier partial disruptions and comes in the midst of escalating military tensions with Israel after days of back and forth rocket attacks 📉 pic.twitter.com/IU598AIMRJJune 18, 2025
The incidents come after a series of partial disturbances that Netblocks has recorded since Friday.
Large DNS provider Cloudflare also confirmed the malfunctions, Reporting a decrease in connectivity of 90% From Wednesday from 4 p.m. local time. These incidents do not seem to be due to infrastructure damage.
On Monday a government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, Allegedly explained explained Internet restrictions such as “temporary, focused and controlled, to ward off cyber attacks”, but it also prevents citizens to communicate information and gain access to information at the most critical times.
At the moment, Proton VPN’s general manager, David Peterson,: “In Iran, internet blockouts, as well as VPN and social media blocks, are normalized and are now another tool that the regime can turn to.”
Although censor -proof VPNs such as Proton VPN can work to bypass targeted online disruptions, they cannot help in times of total internet blockout.
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