Iran reveals the internet isn't as important as thought - four weeks without the global network, but life goes on

For the fourth week now, Iran continues the greatest experiment in human history - how to survive without the global internet. While people in Riga panic if WiFi disappears for five minutes, Iranians calmly live with only state-approved digital content for a whole month.

The organization "Netblocks" reports this is the longest internet blockade in Iran's history, but as a Liepāja resident waiting for a tram in Karosta would say: "Well, what's the big deal? We also live at our own pace and don't rush."

Online commerce and entrepreneurs who previously relied on Instagram advertising suffer the most. Now they have to return to old-fashioned methods - standing by their shops and shouting at passersby. Just like local traders do by the Fish Market in Liepāja.

The most relevant issue is that Iran's government and army still use full internet access, while civilians sit with internal networks. It's like a situation where the tram driver has GPS, but passengers don't know where they're going or when they'll arrive.

Elsewhere in the world, such a situation would be called a catastrophe, but Iranians prove that life without global internet is possible. They're probably reading more books now and talking face-to-face - just like people in Liepāja do in winter when the wind overpowers the WiFi signal.