Iran just went dark (Electronically). Again. As of Feb 26, 2026, internet access and GPS signals across Iran are reportedly blacked out nationwide. Not throttled. Not slowed. Gone.
Over 92 million people digitally cut off.
This follows the massive January 8 shutdown — one of the most extreme blackouts in modern history — imposed during nationwide anti-regime protests.
Here’s what’s different now:
• Global internet reportedly severed
• Domestic National Information Network disrupted
• GPS signals jammed (Starlink targeted)
• Satellite broadcasts affected
• VPNs failing
Why?
Because control of information is control of power.
During the January unrest:
– Internet traffic dropped ~50% for weeks
– Online sales collapsed ~80%
– Millions lost banking + medical access
– Protest coordination was crippled
Authorities are reportedly pushing a “two-tiered internet” model — unrestricted access for regime insiders, isolation for everyone else.
Digital apartheid.
And this blackout lands during nuclear talks in Geneva — as U.S. forces mass in the region and both sides trade war threats.
This isn’t just censorship.
It’s a battlefield tactic.
Cut communications.
Break coordination.
Control the narrative.
Operate without scrutiny.
The 21st-century authoritarian playbook isn’t tanks in the streets.
It’s silence.
If this model holds, expect others to copy it.
Digital isolation is becoming a regime survival weapon.
