Last week Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he would activate Starlink in order to guarantee Iranians internet access after the government blocked connection in response to protests.
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Iran has seen 10 consecutive days of protests in the country in response to the murder of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini who died while in police custody.
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Protests appear to be growing in intensity and are believed to have spread to all thirty-one Iranian provinces as the population vents in fury over Amini’s murder.
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The young woman died while in the custody of the morality police after allegedly being detained for wearing her hijab too loosely.
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Her death has sparked the largest and fiercest demonstrations for years with videos emerging of protestors clashing with riot police across Iran.
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The Iranian government’s response has been predictably harsh with thousands detained and an unknown number of deaths over the last 10 days.
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In an attempt to halt the growing tide of popular support, the Iranian government cut the internet connection to many parts of the country over the weekend.
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It’s not the first time, a week-long internet blackout occurred in 2019 aimed at suppressing protests. In response, Elon Musk has authorised the use of Starlink, already in use in Ukraine.
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Starlink is an internet provider operated by the Space X satellite which can effectively deliver a high-speed connection to over 40 different countries and areas of the world without any coverage.
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Starlink has been operating successfully in Ukraine since the early stages of the Russian invasion and has so far proved an invaluable connection to a country with a ravaged communication system.