Tehran intensified efforts to portray normalcy across state television, with media outlets such as Russian-linked Viory and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) pushing headlines stating the Iranian capital has “calmed down” following weeks of intense protests.
IRIB has aired the same footage of families skiing, with a narrator stating, “People are enjoying the beautiful snowfall,” according to Iran International.
The Jerusalem Post was not able to independently locate the broadcast footage.
The “calm” footage circulated while most Iranians remained largely cut off from the outside world for more than 200 hours by January 16, with only select state-aligned outlets and users granted access via so-called “white SIM cards,” Iran International reported.
Additionally, IRIB has claimed that the internet is gradually returning, and that new footage is “resurfacing,” showing that the protesters were armed aggressors.
Reports indicate restricted access to internet may be returning to Iran
Sunday marked the 21st day of the Iranian protests and the 10th day of the media blackout.
NetBlocks, an internet monitoring organization that tracks internet shutdowns and censorship, reported that at hour 238 of the digital blackout, there was a “significant return to some online services, including Google, suggesting that heavily filtered access has been enabled.”
The videos shared by IRIB are dated January 8 and 9, when the media blackout began and, according to reports within Iran, when potentially thousands of protesters were killed by the regime.
As part of the push to project calm in Tehran, IRIB published that schools and universities reopened on Sunday.
The broadcaster also shared that the Iranian Judiciary was “doing our best to distinguish between those who were deceived and the main leaders of the riots, so that no one is wronged.”
While Iranian leadership has long maintained a model of internet censorship, information obtained by digital rights watchdog Filterwatch shows the regime has employed a strategy of "absolute digital isolation."
According to Filterwatch, which is dedicated to analyzing and reporting on internet censorship, surveillance, network disruptions, and digital rights in Iran, the isolation is believed to be a permanent shift, and unrestricted internet access will not return to Iranians in the foreseeable future.