On January 8, 2026, the digital sky went dark. I thought we are pushing the boundaries of the tech world and have super powers when needed. I was so wrong.
This is Iran's third total internet shutdown, but the methodology has evolved into something far more surgical. They didn't just block IP addresses; they severed BGP routes, killed mobile data, and effectively jammed Starlink signals into a dead zone thanks to Russian imports. When the signal itself is murdered, your Tor bridges and VPNs become expensive paperweights.
As builders, we are being out-engineered. We have grown complacent, assuming the "always-on" cloud is a fundamental constant of the universe. But if your software requires a remote handshake to function, it is a liability, not a tool, in a crisis zone. Every application built with heavy reliance on centralized APIs vaporizes the moment the backbone is cut.
We must stop designing for the "connected" illusion and start building for the darkness.
This is my plea to the HN community: stop treating "offline-first" as a niche feature and start treating it as a human right. We need robust, decentralized mesh networks that bypass state-controlled gateways entirely. We need isolated documentation tools and local-first databases that can sync via Bluetooth or physical handoffs.
Build for the 212 regions that went dark last year so that the next time a state pulls the plug, the people aren't left helpless.
a throwaway account for obvious reasons (they have also Chinese tech to track); make your code work when the world goes quiet.
> As of Saturday, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had confirmed 5,459 deaths and is investigating 17,031 more.
The 30,000 number comes from the Ministry of Health. It seems the UN number also aligns with the new 30,000 number. This is much worse than the 3,000 that was reported earlier. But it also seems like the crackdown is over now, and we're still just counting deaths from Jan 8 and 9.
I compare this to the recent protests in Bangladesh, where Sheikh Hasina ordered the military to shoot the protesters and the military refused. The difference between these two countries is proof that people do have the ability to disobey orders from authoritarian leaders, and that decision can have a huge impact.
What explains the silence from activists outside Iran on this particular issue? I see relatively limited coverage on global media. Iranians seem to be fighting this alone, and dying by the thousands.
Perhaps we know, but the reasons will be unpopular.
I guess this will be a difficult question to ask. I have no doubt the numbers are high but there is something odd about the videos that leak out. The sound of the guns are enhanced for psychological effect? and in the cases where a gunner on a truck is moving down a road purportedly mowing people down there is no blood on the road where the protestors had been standing, no bodies and we never see the people being shot. It's not like I want to see people being shot but I've also seen a lot of fake mass shooting videos in the past decade. There's no shortage of real uncensored footage of killing in Ukraine. Why is everything censored for Iran?
I feel like the period between 2019 through to today (2019-2026), human death tolls have paralleled prior twentieth century death tolls. Numbers that sound like tens of thousands, and even millions if you count Ukraine/Russia.
The simple absence of on the ground reports from a variety of independent sources tells me that these numbers should not be simply ignored.
If there’s nothing happening, then the obvious way for the authorities to prove that is to let observers in, and let independent information out. They do not do this, so I will take these reports of deaths more seriously.
Despite feeling deeply for Iranians living under this oppressive regime and in the aftermath of the protests, I can’t help but think about how current media coverage of Iran compares to the way major outlets amplified questionable claims in the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2003.
The Islamic clampdown on the Iranian people has gone on for too long. The younger generation is willing to die for their freedom. The internet is locked down, satellite comms jammed with Chinese tech. The streets smell of blood. Police and imported Arab thugs open fire into crowds of protestors. Hospitals are systematically raided to finish off the wounded.
It will be his greatest act as president if Trump sends real assistance, as the Iranian people are begging him. It will save countless lives. Either way, in the end, Persia will rise again, the lion will raise its head, the brutality of Islamic oppression will be cast off, and the world will come to know the true spirit of these people.
That's way higher than I thought. Is there any evidence? Dresden was 25,000, and the V2 and V1 campaigns had less numbers. So this is high even for an aerial bombing campaign.
[edit] I don't get why I'm getting downvoted. Are people making assumptions because I mentioned Dresden? Get a hold of yourself.
At this point I don't believe anything about the situation unless I hear it firsthand from eyewitnesses. The amount of GenAI fakes circulating not just on insta and x but more importantly between iranian-born Boomers on Whatsapp that then gets recycled into: "My aunt in LA knows people in a Tehran Hospital and has seen videos of mass casualties amongst security forces/ protesters" is off the charts. Obviously until the internet gets turned on again the aunt has no privileged access to her sources in Tehran and can't have seen anything other then the same AI-slop everyone else has "seen" but for people who haven't been following the genAI developments closely its hard to understand how any of those videos could be anything other than authentic anyways. Even reputable Media have started to publish (and sometimes retract) those video and even if you don't care about Iran at all you should pay attention because this is a case study of something we'll be living with for a while. For the many Millions of people outside of Iran, like me, who for one reason or another have a personal interest in this clusterfruck of a Regime finally being EOLed, it's incredibly frustrating to witness the degree of incompetency at all levels of the US Gov in carrying out something the US used to lead the world in (regime change). While under Obama there was the consideration of plausible deniability at play constraining the work that could be carried out, the current admin has no such excuse. There seems to have been little to no contingency planning to aid the people we armed in case the Regime shut-off the internet (which they have done before) other than handing out easily tracked starlink terminal. Half of Tehran has a recent iPhone and satellite coms on these devices could easily have been enabled by the US Gov. Instead we have US officials on fox news producing clip after clip where they proudly detail the regime change operations they fail to carry out, which iranian state TV just have to translate for free pro-Regime Propaganda. Maybe the strategy is to scare all iranian propagandists that they'll be unemployed because their jobs have been outsourced to the US because otherwise you certainly would not have these same US officials on FOX to then explain why shooting peaceful protesters is great and totally a-OK and what democracy looks like.
Can You IMAGINE 30k deaths? A genocide happened in gaza and it took months, i think a year to reach 30k target and you are saying iran judt straight up killed 30k civilians in 1-2 days?
Iran Protest Death Toll Could Top 30k, According to Local Health Officials
(time.com)307 points by mhb 25 January 2026 | 173 comments
Comments
This is Iran's third total internet shutdown, but the methodology has evolved into something far more surgical. They didn't just block IP addresses; they severed BGP routes, killed mobile data, and effectively jammed Starlink signals into a dead zone thanks to Russian imports. When the signal itself is murdered, your Tor bridges and VPNs become expensive paperweights.
As builders, we are being out-engineered. We have grown complacent, assuming the "always-on" cloud is a fundamental constant of the universe. But if your software requires a remote handshake to function, it is a liability, not a tool, in a crisis zone. Every application built with heavy reliance on centralized APIs vaporizes the moment the backbone is cut.
We must stop designing for the "connected" illusion and start building for the darkness.
This is my plea to the HN community: stop treating "offline-first" as a niche feature and start treating it as a human right. We need robust, decentralized mesh networks that bypass state-controlled gateways entirely. We need isolated documentation tools and local-first databases that can sync via Bluetooth or physical handoffs.
Build for the 212 regions that went dark last year so that the next time a state pulls the plug, the people aren't left helpless.
a throwaway account for obvious reasons (they have also Chinese tech to track); make your code work when the world goes quiet.
The 30,000 number comes from the Ministry of Health. It seems the UN number also aligns with the new 30,000 number. This is much worse than the 3,000 that was reported earlier. But it also seems like the crackdown is over now, and we're still just counting deaths from Jan 8 and 9.
I compare this to the recent protests in Bangladesh, where Sheikh Hasina ordered the military to shoot the protesters and the military refused. The difference between these two countries is proof that people do have the ability to disobey orders from authoritarian leaders, and that decision can have a huge impact.
Perhaps we know, but the reasons will be unpopular.
If there’s nothing happening, then the obvious way for the authorities to prove that is to let observers in, and let independent information out. They do not do this, so I will take these reports of deaths more seriously.
How come I wonder?
It will be his greatest act as president if Trump sends real assistance, as the Iranian people are begging him. It will save countless lives. Either way, in the end, Persia will rise again, the lion will raise its head, the brutality of Islamic oppression will be cast off, and the world will come to know the true spirit of these people.
Then I'm sure the full might and wrath of the U.S. military would be unleashed upon him and his regime...
[edit] I don't get why I'm getting downvoted. Are people making assumptions because I mentioned Dresden? Get a hold of yourself.
Can You IMAGINE 30k deaths? A genocide happened in gaza and it took months, i think a year to reach 30k target and you are saying iran judt straight up killed 30k civilians in 1-2 days?
It sucks that no one has morals or consistant stances anymore. Just political positions to push specific agendas.
12 instances of Israel already on a thread about 30 THOUSAND HUMAN BEINGS murdered in Iran.
Labeling it a "protest" is equating it to what a bunch of clustered people holding stupid billboards and yelling into microphones. This isn't that.