Iran’s Internet Blackout: Is Tehran Trying to Hide a Massacre?
- Hananya Naftali
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
When a regime shuts off the internet, it's not because they’re planning a peaceful picnic.
On January 9th, 2026, just after 8 p.m., the Islamic Republic of Iran unplugged itself from the world. With one swift move, the mullahs silenced 85 million voices, cutting off the internet, jamming GPS signals, and blocking phone lines. The reason? Protesters were pouring into the streets in massive numbers. People are starving, the economy is in shambles, and the regime is once again doing what it does best: threatening, beating, and likely killing its own people.
But this time, the Ayatollah’s brutal machine didn’t just want to suppress dissent. It wanted to do it in the dark.
Iran has blacked out the internet before, during the 2019 protests over fuel prices (over 300 people were killed), and again in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini (over 500 killed). So what makes this latest blackout different?
They are terrified of the truth getting out. This time, they want to silence Starlink. They want to blind the satellites, jam GPS, and stop the footage from leaking. Because this time, it may not just be “hundreds” dead. It could be more. Much more. Some reports say the deathtoll is at around 2000 people. The regime is losing control.
The regime’s top prosecutor just said protesters are “enemies of God.” In Iran, that means the death penalty. No trial. No mercy. Just a bullet to the head or a noose around the neck. Executions on the spot. That’s what they’re threatening.
And what’s worse? We might not even know it’s happening, because we can’t see it.
The Mask of the Mullahs
For years, the Iranian regime has used propaganda and gaslighting to convince the West that it's a misunderstood, sovereign power defending itself from Western aggression. That’s a lie. Iran isn’t misunderstood, it’s a calculated, genocidal dictatorship. It executes homosexuals, stones women, funds terror around the globe, and chants “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” like it’s a national anthem.
This is a regime that sends billions to Hezbollah and Hamas while its own people can’t afford bread. They murder teenagers for dancing, torture women for removing a hijab, and hang political prisoners in public to “send a message.” They call it justice. It’s murder.
Now they are cracking down again, but this time, they want the world blind.
Iran’s leaders know the power of images. In 2022, it was videos of Mahsa Amini that sparked global outrage. It was smuggled footage, shaky cell phones, and secret VPNs that turned the Islamic Republic’s moral police into an international disgrace.
But that exposure embarrassed them. And this time, they want to make sure no footage escapes. That's why they’re not just shutting down the internet, they’re jamming satellites. They’re doing what Russia did in Ukraine: attacking communication itself. Because in this age, truth is a threat to tyranny.
Where is the World?
Right now, the Iranian diaspora is in agony. Dissidents abroad don’t know if their loved ones are alive. Iranian diaspora can’t reach their families. Thousands are posting, praying, screaming for help, and yet the world is mostly silent.
Why?
Because Iran doesn’t fit the Left’s narrative. If this were Israel defending itself from rockets, you’d see emergency U.N. sessions, human rights commissions, front-page headlines, celebrities screaming “Free Palestine.” But when Iran massacres its own people, radio silence.
This is moral hypocrisy. It's cowardice. And it needs to end.
When Jesus flipped the tables of the money changers, He didn’t ask for permission. He saw injustice and acted. He didn’t “both-sides” evil. He called it out. If you believe in the Bible, you believe in speaking truth, even when it's uncomfortable.
Proverbs 31:8 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”That includes the people of Iran. They are destitute, silenced, and suffering under a demonic regime that seeks to crush them. And yet, too many politicians are still shaking hands with Tehran, begging them to rejoin a nuclear deal they never respected in the first place.
Where is the outrage?
Where is the leadership?
Where is the help?
This isn’t just about Iranians. It’s about a world that is growing numb to evil. A world that talks about “human rights” while partnering with human rights abusers. A world where the U.N. elects Iran to women's rights councils while Iranian women are being tortured in prison for showing their hair.
If you're a leader in the West, now is the time to act.
Demand open internet access in Iran. Send Starlink receivers. Sanction the officials involved in the crackdown. Name and shame. Loudly. Stop appeasing this terrorist regime.
Because make no mistake: a massacre may already be underway.
The regime is terrified, and it should be. Its people are rising. Its lies are crumbling. Its iron grip is slipping. And that’s why they pulled the plug. Because deep down, they know their time is running out.
Iran doesn’t need more nuclear deals. It needs freedom.
It doesn’t need more appeasement. It needs accountability.
And above all, the people of Iran don’t need more empty words. They need light, literally. They need access. They need connection. They need to be seen.
History will remember this moment. Will we stand with the oppressed? Or will we let the Islamic Republic bury another massacre in silence?
Choose.
Because silence, in times like this, is complicity.