How Iran shut down the internet and built a sophisticated system of digital control

Published: January 29, 2026 3.58pm GMT

Author

1. Gemma WareHost, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

Interviewed

1. Amin NaeniPhD Candidate in International Relations, Deakin University; Dublin City University

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Amin Naeni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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On January 8, as thousands of Iranians took to the streets in nationwide protests, the government cut off the internet.

Under cover of digital darkness, the Iranian regime launched a brutal and deadly crackdown against anti-government protesters. What information has got out, including testimony from morgues, graveyards and doctors who treated the injured, suggests thousands of people have been killed.

 Iran has shutdown the global internet before, but never for this long.  Without the internet, trading has slumped.  Many entrepreneurs who rely on Instagram to do business can’t post. Lorry drivers are struggling to cross borders because they can’t access digital documents. By some estimates, internet shutdown can cost more than US$37 million a day.

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Read more: Iran’s latest internet blackout extends to phones and Starlink

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After three weeks of internet blackout, reports from web traffic monitor Netblocks suggest that the internet is slowly coming back online but the connection is predominantly for government-approved users.

Our mission is to share knowledge and inform decisions.

Yet for most of the shutdown, banks and some local government websites and apps still worked. And that’s because Iran is developing its own, national internet, cut off from the rest of the world.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to Amin Naeni, a PhD candidate researching digital authoritarianism at Deakin University in Australia, about how Iran built one of the world’s most sophisticated systems of digital control.

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This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer.

Newsclips in this episode from The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, DW News, CNA, CBS News, CNN, CBC News and BBC News.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.

The Pursuit of Mastery

The timeless quest to go beyond competence and achieve excellence.

Big Think, Stephen Johnson, Rachel Barr, and Steven Ross Pomeroy

Jan 30, 2026

Big Thinkers,

Last Saturday, the American climber Alex Honnold successfully scaled the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan with no ropes or safety nets.

I’m not sure why. I’m not being a smartass: The feat was wildly impressive and made for great TV. But to those of us who prefer the interiors of skyscrapers over the exteriors, it’s not immediately obvious what compels people like Honnold to risk everything, all for what turned out to be an “embarrassing” payday, as he told The New York Times.

Perhaps it’s pride, prestige, or an adrenaline addiction. Or maybe the reason is as simple as the one that British climber George Mallory offered in 1923 when a reporter asked him why he wanted to climb Mount Everest: “Because it’s there.”

We are drawn to mastery, whether it’s perfecting our own craft or watching other people push the limits of human potential.

Our latest special issue brings you a collection of stories about all things mastery. Inside, we explore the science behind the “quiet eye” of elite athletes, the systems that create star performers, actor Ethan Suplee’s quest to master himself, and much more. You can catch the full issue here.

Read on,
Stephen

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THE BIG SECOND ACT

From self-erasure to self-mastery: Ethan Suplee’s second act

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You’d probably recognize actor Ethan Suplee as the chubby bully on Boy Meets World, lovable Louie in Remember the Titans, and the aptly named “Tuna” (Johnny Depp’s sidekick) in Blow. But you probably wouldn’t recognize Suplee if you saw him today in the gym. Once weighing in at 550 pounds, Suplee is now down to about 250, and he’s documented his efforts to master his food addiction in his new career as a fitness influencer. Big Think recently caught up with Suplee to discuss his Hollywood career, his second act, and why eating a piece of banana bread is not the end of the world.

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How training your gaze could help you master sports — and your own attention

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When thinking about what makes an athlete great, you might imagine Gretzky’s flick of the wrist, Serena Williams’ snap of the shoulder, or Messi’s blinding footwork. But the precision of these movements may be downstream from something far quieter: the movements of the eyes. In this piece, Ross Pomeroy looks at the science behind “quiet eye training,” a sustained gaze that helps the brain execute precise actions under pressure.

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Excellence rarely follows a straight line. Many top performers begin as late bloomers, developing through trial, failure, and cross-domain exploration. As neuroscientist Rachel Barr details in this interview with author David Epstein, the systems that produce stars often aren’t optimized for speed or certainty, but for adaptability over time.

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@MegaGeopolitics

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BREAKING: US Foreign Affairs calls the world to abandon Chinese products: “To all world leaders meeting with Xi Jinping: China sells nothing but cheap products and cheap friendships.”

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Independence stops feeling fragile.@Tesla, @elonmusk https://t.co/6GDbVhhbgX pic.twitter.com/g3fMdpskMc

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Mario Nawfal

@MarioNawfal

TRUMP CALLS FOR BIPARTISAN VOTE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN The president says Congress has come together on a deal to fund most of the government through September, with an extension for DHS and the Coast Guard. “The only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown.” He’s pushing both parties to deliver a “YES” vote without delay. Source: Truth Social

ELON WANTS AI IN SPACE

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Sebastian Gomez-Pena, who is paralysed from the neck down, is one of the first people in the UK to receive Elon Musk’s brain chip. "It's magical," he tells Sky's @t0mclark3, "it's cool to see that when I think about moving my hand something actually happens." pic.twitter.com/w78ejmxApB

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Image source: TIME

The Rundown: Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s AI venture Primordial Soup released “On This Day… 1776”, a new series recreating the American Revolution using Google DeepMind, with each episode dropping on the 250th anniversary of the event it depicts.

The details:

The short-form series combines AI-generated visuals with SAG-AFTRA voice actors, positioning itself as “artist-led” AI rather than being fully automated.The series drops episodes on TIME’s YouTube channel timed to the 250th anniversary of each depicted event.Aronofsky partnered with DeepMind in May to collaborate on AI storytelling, releasing the Veo-assisted film ANCESTRA in June at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Why it matters: AI video is creeping further into real production studio workflows, and moving from simple shorts and hidden tricks to hide faces to handling the entire visual process. While it still might not be fully accepted or mainstream, the sentiment is shifting — and Hollywood’s once-uneasy use of the tech is coming more into focus.