Iran Ends 87-Day International Internet Blackout After Task-Force Review

Tehran’s move echoes earlier "internet killswitch" episodes—Egypt’s 5-day shutdown during the 25 Jan 2011 uprising and Myanmar’s rolling blackouts after the 2021 coup—where authorities tried to blunt dissent or manage wartime narratives. Like those cases, Iran leveraged its domestically-built intranet, illustrating a long trend toward digital sovereignty and the gradual fracturing of the once-borderless web into national fiefdoms (“splinternet”). The timing alongside revived U.S.–Iran nuclear talks suggests connectivity can be wielded as both a security tool and a diplomatic signal; cutting a population off hurts commerce and international image, so restoring it can advertise stability and bargain for sanctions relief. On a 100-year scale, each such episode tests whether the global flow of information—arguably as transformational as the printing press in the 15th century—remains resilient or is subordinated to state power. Iran’s reversible switch shows the technical feasibility of total disconnection; whether societies accept that precedent will shape the architecture of the internet—and political agency—through the 2100s.