Like so many Americans with family living abroad, the internet is a lifeline for Sudi Farokhnia.

But for Farokhnia, who has family living in Iran, there can be days and weeks that go by that she is unable to reach them, as Iran’s regime often uses internet blackouts to silence dissidents and cut off access to the world outside Iran.

“If there is no internet, there is no connection, and that creates a lot of anxiety as well, both for people who are inside Iran and outside,” she explained. “It is really haunting, [it] robs you from sleep.”

Farokhnia said utilized the internet to log in remotely to a Google device that she mailed to her elderly aunt in Iran to be able to talk with her and check in on her wellbeing from thousands of miles away in Southern California. But when a blackout was

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