- From September 29, 2025, Afghanistan completely closed the internet
- The authorities have justified order as a means of “preventing immorality”, but experts think that it is a dissident silence and to restrict communications
- VPNs cannot bypass these restrictions, with satellite internet and foreign sim cards being the only viable options
The Afghans are currently living in digital darkness while the Taliban authorities cut citizens of the rest of the world in order to “prevent immorality”.
Internet Watchdog Netblocks has started to undergo a deterioration in Internet connectivity levels since early September. On September 25, the experts recorded a scheme of cover -style internet closures in certain regions of the country. Everything collapsed on Monday, September 29, when the country fell into a total communication failure while Internet and telephone services stopped operating.
According to #Keepiton Global Campaign Manager at Access Now, Felicia Anthonio, the Taliban decision comes rather as an attempt to tighten their control over the flow of information, the dissent of silence and protects it from human rights violations of public control.
“With so many restrictions already in place, this judgment removes the last remaining lines of life connecting the inhabitants of Afghanistan to the outside world,” Anthonio told Techradar.
Afghanistan Internet stop toll
As the measures of Netblocks and Cloudflare show, all web traffic and DNS fell to zero after the cut at the national level. IP address ads, a system that provides internet services by connecting servers groups, also dropped two thirds in the first twenty minutes of the electricity failure.
Beyond these technical details, in practical terms, this means that most citizens cannot connect.
Mix the Internet with the current telecommunications failure, and you have the perfect recipe to prevent all aghans from communicating with anyone – both in and outside the country.
“The small information emerging from Afghanistan shows that the internet failure has a deep impact on all aspects of the rights and life of people,” said Anthonio to Techradar.
Fear and panic fuel concerns among the citizens concerned who cannot reach out to their loved ones. From education, health and employment to travel and electronic commerce, people also have trouble accessing essential services.
Internet access is anything but luxury.
“For millions in Afghanistan, it’s a rescue buoy,” Anthonio told Techradar. “For women, girls, journalists and marginalized communities, already pushed to the margins by Taliban policies, connectivity is often the only way to participate in society.”
Beyond VPN
Whenever governments apply online restrictions, people turn to bypass tools like Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to browse their IP address and give access to blocked content.
This time, however, the whole internet is in darkness. Consequently, VPNs cannot do the trick, leaving the Afghans very limited resources to maintain the flow of information.
According to the director general of Proton VPN, David Peterson, the last time that such a breakdown of the internet nationwide occurred was in mid-June in Iran, which lasted three days.
During most restriction events on the Internet, VPN proton users are still able to travel the outside world. But not when the internet is completely disconnected. The last time we saw a total and deliberate internet power outage at the national level like this is Iran for 3 days in mid-June. https://t.co/qdt5pz3mqfSeptember 29, 2025
Anthonio explains that satellite connectivity offered by Starlink and that similar services become a common alternative for people and communities faced with internet breakdowns.
There is only one problem – prices and availability are always an obstacle for most people who know the consequences of an internet closure.
This then led people to use foreign SIM cards or satellite phones instead. However, this method has a cost for Afghans, and it is not a matter of money.
“The Taliban have shown the will to retaliate against those who challenge their orders,” said Anthonio.
According to Anthonio, what is necessary is that the international community intensifies the support of the rights for the defense of rights which requires the end of the violation of the rights of people in Afghanistan.
Although Afghanistan’s situation is particularly disastrous, the Taliban is far from being the only government to disrupt Internet to advance a political program.
Commenting on this point, Anthonio said: “Unfortunately, this decision follows a familiar model in the authoritarian game book, where the authorities are increasingly standardizing the use of Internet closures to refuse people their human rights.”
