DIGITAL WORLD

Iranian dictatorship partially reactive internet, but confirms the massacre at civilians

DUBAI (Reuters)-the internet has returned to operation in Hormozgan, a province of southern Iran, semi-official news agency Isna reported on Thursday, after a nationwide blockage for days to help stem the riots caused by fuel price increases.The interruption of internet access decreed by the authorities made it difficult for protesters to publish videos on social networks to gain more support and obtain reliable reports on the extent of the protests.
But Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard said on Thursday that calm has returned to the whole country, state television reported.
"The internet connection has been restored in Hormozgan province and all social media applications are active again," ISNA said, referring to the province that was one of the epicentres of the protests.
Earlier, Iranian authorities had said that internet access would be reactivated if calm were restored.
Riots erupted on November 15 after the government announced an increase of at least 50% in the price of gasoline. Demonstrations began in several provincial cities and spread to about 100 small and large cities in the Islamic Republic, soon assuming a political imprint when protesters began demanding the resignation of high-ranking authorities.
Amnesty International reported documenting at least 106 protesters killed by security forces, which would represent the worst street disturbance in the country in at least a decade and possibly since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Iranian authorities said that several people, including members of security forces and police, died in the episodes of violence in the streets, which Tehran attributed to "foreign enemies."

by Parisa Hafezi