James Wild MP has pressed the government to set out the steps it is taking with international partners to counter Iran’s deliberate internet blackout and violent crackdown on protesters, and to ensure Iranian voices are heard despite the regime’s attempts to silence them.
Speaking in the House of Commons, James challenged ministers to move beyond general condemnations of the regime and to explain how the UK is helping restore communications and document abuses that the blackout is intended to conceal.
His question followed ministerial statements that Iran “must restore internet access” and that the blackout constitutes a breach of the human rights of the Iranian people, but without detail on the practical measures being taken.
Protests across Iran, which began in response to economic hardship, political repression, and the regime’s sweeping restrictions on women’s freedoms, have spread nationwide and drawn broad support from young people, workers, and ethnic minorities.
Security forces have responded with extreme violence, mass detentions, and systematic efforts to block internet and mobile networks. Human rights organisations warn that the blackout is being used to obscure killings, torture, and other serious violations.
Speaking in the House of Commons, James Wild MP said:
“The Iranian regime is killing protesters in their thousands, and the communication blackout is enabling abuses to happen away from public view. The Minister said yesterday: ‘They must restore internet access.’
What are the Government doing with partners, so that we can hear the voices of those freedom fighters?”
In response, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hamish Falconer MP, said:
“As I said to the House yesterday, we treat the internet blackout in Iran as a breach of the human rights of the Iranian people. We continue to work on this issue with our partners for the reasons that my ministerial colleagues have set out, but I will not give further commentary on operational business.”