Confirming what was reported on Friday, Google said today that Gmail and YouTube have been blocked in Iran since February 10. Reports began circulating at the end of last week leading into this the weekend’s anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. The degree to which Gmail and Google access has been revoked is unclear, but people have been updating about the Internet’s status in Iran throughout the day (it’s uncertain whether any of the tweeters below are actually in Iran). And yes, oddly enough, Twitter seems to have been left mostly intact as users continue to post updates to their accounts. For now.
@yasget
No more Internet in Iran http://t.co/LY8t5sdr
Individual in Iran reports that, last night, only Gmail was available from his location. Different regions of Iran having different issues.
#Iran: 30+ million users can’t access gmail & hotmail, per Mehr news. A Tehrani tells me it feels like ‘Internet-itis’
Internet outage in#Iran IT ministry can’t check their Gmail/Yahoo. #Iran media are looking those responsible for blocking mail of 30 million users
Even those @According to RT, which also includes Facebook as part of the banned Internet services, people in Iran are met with this message when they try to access a banned site: “According to computer crime regulations, access to this website is denied.”
It’s presumed that the Internet gag was a pre-emptive action ahead of the month-long anniversary of the Iranian Revolution that commenced this past Saturday. Adding to the uncertainty of Internet access in Iran, Anonymous tweeted this out about three hours ago indicating a much wider swath of censorship happening in Iran:
Given that there are now varying accounts on what is happening in Iran in regard to the Internet being on or off, who knows what’s going on there. Most news this morning on Twitter about Iran concerns Israel’s accusation that Iran is involved with attacks on Israeli Embassy personel in India and Georgia, so additional news about a wholesale cut-off of the Internet in Iran weren’t apparent. Then again, no news about an Internet shutdown in Iran might actually be news.