Internet shutdown pushes Iranians onto distrusted domestic apps
Many Iranians have been forced onto distrusted domestic apps after authorities cut global internet access, disrupting education and business while exposing users to slow speeds, censorship and surveillance fears.
Most affected are businesses reliant on Instagram and other global services, but even users pushed onto domestic platforms described repeated outages, poor functionality and heavy censorship on apps such as Rubika, Bale and Shad.
One citizen said Rubika often fails to send photos and videos for much of the day and alleged the platform checks users’ phone galleries. Another said uploading a single image on Rubika can take an hour.
Citizens also raised concerns that domestic applications could expose their data and devices to state monitoring.
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