Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Bloody demonstrations in Iran which has been going on since December 28, has become even more tense following the internet blackout throughout the country by the government for the last 156 hours as of Thursday (15/1).
This condition makes real time reporting difficult and makes it difficult for information from within the country to be conveyed to the outside world, including confusion regarding the number of deaths which is reported to have reached more than 2 thousand people.
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Launching the site CNNcybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks said in X that the communications blackout entering its seventh day “empowers pro-regime accounts, spreads fake AI content, and other agendas.”
This situation also makes monitoring conditions inside Iran in real time difficult.
In addition, the internet blackout also makes verifying the number of victims killed in the bloody protests in Iran difficult.
There are various reports from the media regarding the number of deaths in Iran, giving rise to confusion regarding the actual number of victims.
Based on HRANA records, as of Wednesday (14/1), 2,615 people had died, including 13 children under 18 years and 14 non-demonstrator civilians.
Another 153 victims were members of the security forces and pro-government protesters, while another 882 cases were still under investigation.
The Norway-based human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported 3,428 deaths as of Wednesday.
IHR claims to have obtained data from the Iranian Ministry of Health as well as hospital and mortuary documentation, which states that 3,379 demonstrators were killed on January 8-12.
In addition, Israeli intelligence estimates that around 5,000 people were killed, while the UK-based Iran International media put the toll at more than 12,000.
However, until now, CNN Indonesia has not obtained comparative data regarding the number of deaths from official Iranian media such as IRNA, Mehr News and Fars.
This is because internet access in Iran is still completely cut off so that media pages cannot be accessed.
In an effort to help Iranians stay connected to the internet, France is reviewing the possibility of sending Eutelsat terminals so that Iranians can access the internet via satellite during the blackout.
Eutelsat, a Paris-based satellite operator, has a fleet of low-orbit satellites that can provide internet services from space.
Its subsidiary, OneWeb, is a competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink, which currently provides free internet access to users in Iran.
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[Gambas:Video CNN]
