The Iranian government has cut off WhatsApp, WhatsApp and Instagram after protests against the death of Mahsa Amini.
On Wednesday, Iran curbed access to the Internet, as well as Meta Platforms' Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the last remaining social networks in the country, due to protests over the death of a woman in police custody, residents and internet watchdog NetBlocks said.
Amini was arrested by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women, which requires them to wear a hijab and clothing that covers their arms and legs in public.
Amini was allegedly beaten after her arrest and died after a three-day coma. Authorities initially tried to blame for Amini's death by suggesting that she had a pre-existing heart condition. Amini's parents denied those claims.
Her death has spurred people across Iran to protest the Islamic Republic's freedom, with some women burning their hijab in protest.
In the past, Iran has curbed internet access to make it hard for protesters to post videos on social media to get reliable reports on the extent of the unrest.
NetBlocks also reported a nation-scale loss of connectivity on Iran's mail mobile provider and another company's network.
Hours after Instagram's services were blocked, WhatsApp's servers have been disrupted on multiple internet providers, according to London-based NetBlocks.
The data shows a near-total disruption to internet service in parts of Kurdistan province in west Iran since Monday, while the capital city of Tehran and other parts of the country have also been affected since Friday when protests started.
Two residents in Tehran and southern Iran said they could only send text and not pictures on WhatsApp and that Instagram appeared to be completely blocked.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram chief, tweeted about the loss of use of social media on Thursday.
Mosseri said people in Iran are being cut off from online apps and services, and that they hope their right to be online will be reinstated soon. Some people have taken to Twitter to express their frustration at Meta's allegedly deleting pictures and videos from the protests.
The British actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi tweeted, Why is Meta deleting so many Iran protests posts? Israeli journalist Emily Schrader shared on Twitter that Meta's Instagram is blocking her content that supports the Iranian protests.
Schrader shared an image of Instagram blocking a video about Amini's death because it went against Instagram's community guidelines. On Wednesday, Iran's minister of communications said he had been misquoted after news outlets quoted him as saying the authorities might disrupt internet services for security reasons.
Social media sites such as TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are routinely blocked in parts of the Islamic Republic, which has some of the strictest internet controls in the world. But tech-savvy residents bypasses the restrictions by using VPNs as private networks.