How Governments and Regimes Can Limit Internet Access?

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Alp Toker is the director of Netblocks, which maps internet freedoms around the world. He has been monitoring Iran's internet access and says there are varying levels of sophistication when it comes to restrictions on internet access. These can be as simple as simply pulling the plug and disconnecting a network - or more sophisticated measures such as filtering individual platforms.

On 13 September Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was arrested in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran’s hijab rules. Three days later she was dead. Since then, videos of anti-regime demonstrations and acts of resistance have gone viral – leading the government to block internet access in parts of Tehran and Kurdistan. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Azadeh Akbari about why Mahsa Amini’s death has sparked so much anger, and hears from Alp Toker about how governments and regimes around the world are able to limit internet access.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod