Amid two-week internet blackout during protests, some Iranians are getting back online

TEHRAN – For more than 17 days, Iranians have withstood not only a brutal crackdown to quell nationwide protests, but also

a near-total communications blackout

.

Now some Iranians, eager to reconnect with the world, are managing to gain sporadic but brief access to the internet.

Many Iranians have used these brief windows to send their first messages to loved ones, reassuring them that they are alive, relatives said.

But the openings have also allowed Iranians to send longer messages and videos abroad, giving journalists and rights groups a widening view of the extent of the government crackdown and its toll.

Even the limited information being gleaned indicates that thousands more Iranians may have been killed than the

estimated 5,200 previously reported

, according to some human rights groups working to verify the numbers.

It remains unclear how some Iranians are managing to connect, despite monitoring of Iran’s internet showing that the shutdown remains in place. Internet experts said the moments are probably related to the Iranian authorities’ efforts to lift the shutdown while also maintaining tight censorship filters.

The demonstrations in Iran were initially set off in late December in some cities by worsening economic hardship and a currency crisis, but have quickly spread nationwide – and into direct calls to overthrow the Islamic republic.

In response, the authorities shut down Iran’s internet on Jan 8 as security forces began a fierce campaign to suppress the protests. International calls have also been blocked, while domestic phone calls work reliably only until the evening, according to the few residents who managed to speak to The New York Times.

The blackout has made it nearly impossible for journalists and human rights groups, let alone Iranians themselves, to ascertain the scope of the violence. The brief openings to the internet may slowly begin to change that.

The Washington-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that as at Jan 23, it had verified more than 5,000 deaths, and that it was seeking to verify over 17,000 possible deaths in all as new information trickles out of Iran.

Internet censorship in the Islamic republic is not new – the authorities have been blocking websites since 2005, including Facebook and Instagram. During previous anti-government protests, the authorities temporarily shut down the internet in restive areas. In June, during the 12-day war with Israel, it imposed a near-total shutdown.

But this blackout is the longest and most extensive. NYTIMES