Iran’s internet blackout silences voices at home as diaspora creators fill the void

NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian American Ariana Afshar has tried to produce commentary about the first weeks of the war in the Middle East based on the perspectives of people in Iran.

But the New York-based social media creator keeps running into an obstacle: An internet blackout imposed by the government in Tehran has stifled almost all communications from the country. That makes it nearly impossible to reliably survey perspectives on the escalating conflict from inside Iran, where Afshar lived as a teenager and still has family.