Iran’s internet blackout silences voices at home as diaspora creators fill the void

NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian American Ariana Afshar has tried to produce commentary about the first weeks of the war in the Middle East based on the perspectives of people in Iran.

But the New York-based social media creator keeps running into an obstacle: An internet blackout imposed by the government in Tehran has stifled almost all communications from the country. That makes it nearly impossible to reliably survey perspectives on the escalating conflict from inside Iran, where Afshar lived as a teenager and still has family.

That absence has amplified the voices of Iranian American social media creators, who are now explaining the nation’s complicated history and the conflicting desires of its citizens in succinct videos that are widely shared online.

Their content is geared toward the surging demand for information in the U.S., where online searches like “why are we at war with iran” increased by 3,000% in the first week of March, according to Google Search Trends.

Some creators and observers say the disproportionate influence of voices outside of Iran has exacerbated deep rifts in the diaspora, which includes about 750,000 people in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

“I think it’s a huge problem among the Iranian diaspora, where they speak for Iranians a lot. I don’t want to fall into that,” said Afshar, who has roughly 350,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.

In her own online activity, she mostly critiques pro-war perspectives based on her experience growing up in both countries. In the rare moments when she is able to reach relatives, they are often too afraid to share their true feelings about the war and the government.

Content creators “cannot thoroughly access the people’s opinions in Iran,” Afshar said.

Some creators support the war, saying the fear of conflict pales in comparison to a government that killed thousands of people in January during a crackdown on dissent. Others have pointed to obliterated infrastructure and mounting casualties — including more than 165 killed by a strike on an elementary school — as a warning of more carnage to come, citing previous U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as precedent.

“The outside media, especially Iranian diaspora, are playing a major role,” said Babak Rahimi, an Iranian professor of culture, religion and technology at the University of California San Diego. “It’s the kind of role that is not about really information, but it’s mostly about the circulation of emotions.”

Communication obstacles limit information flow

In many wars, citizens are able to supplement official reporting with first-person accounts posted on social media and widely shared, Rahimi said. But digital blackouts and fear of government retaliation have severely limited that in Iran.

The Associated Press and other news outlets have some journalists reporting inside Iran, but limited communications makes getting their reporting out challenging at times. AP also uses satellite imagery, phone interviews to gather accounts and eyewitness testimony and user generated content it verifies to report on events in the country.

But online, bad information still thrives on social media and in messaging apps like Telegram, where millions of people subscribe to groups where inaccurate and unattributed content is easily shared.

Some of that disinformation is put out by the Iranian government, including fake firsthand accounts that attempt to rile up Americans who oppose the war, said Houman Hemmati, who supports the war and left Iran with his Persian Jewish family after the 1979 revolution.

False information seemingly designed to favor the U.S. has also proliferated, including videos claiming that Iran was behind the strike on the school. A preliminary U.S. military investigation has found outdated intelligence likely led to the U.S. carrying out the strike, according to a U.S. official and a second person briefed on the findings.

But in brief moments when Iranians are able to share information, Hemmati said, it quickly grabs attention, showcasing the hunger for firsthand accounts.

“All it takes is for just a little bit to leak out, and those images and stories go viral,” said Hemmati, a 49-year-old from Southern California who speaks regularly on Fox News and has more than 83,000 followers on the social platform X.

Iranians look to US relatives for news

A 35-year-old Iranian living in New York, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation against relatives in Iran, said her family WhatsApp chat between relatives in both countries illustrates the blackout's harm.

In brief opportunities to connect, the chat has been a go-to for scraps of news her relatives cannot easily get.

A cousin in Tehran sent messages the day the bombing began: “Where did they hit?” one read. “Everything I watch is just smoke and explosions.”

The family chat has also been a forum for debate over the future of their homeland, with relatives sharing news clips and social media videos offering varying perspectives about U.S. involvement. But she said there is a huge difference between her family members in the U.S., who speak passionately about the abstract politics of the war, and those in Iran, who are living it each day.

Diaspora creators enter the debate

There has long been a “narrative war” among members of the diaspora, said 26-year-old social media creator Ciara Moezidis, who was born in the United States and has extended family in Iran.

Her Instagram following has increased by 2,000 people since January, when she started posting in support of Iranian protesters and against a war.

“It’s been incredibly exhausting to navigate this while seeing bombs drop across Iran and not being able to reach our families,” said Moezidis.

Others, like Zoya Biglary, an Iranian American content creator with over 600,000 Instagram followers, said she hopes Iranians will eventually be able to see the outpouring of support for their struggle.

“Maybe they’re looking for proof that someone on the outside kind of sees their humanity,” Biglary said.

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Associated Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, contributed.