{
  "id": 170,
  "slug": "2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown",
  "title": "Iran: near-total internet shutdown during fuel-price protests",
  "occurred_on": "2019-11-16",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "IR",
  "country": "IR",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
  "leader_slug": "hassan-rouhani",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
  "outcome": "reversed",
  "outcome_on": "2019-11-23",
  "outcome_note": "Internet connectivity was restored after roughly a week, according to the source reviewed, though the underlying criminal cases against arrested journalists continued.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal levels nationwide for nearly a week during protests over fuel prices, while arresting at least eleven journalists, including one detained for reporting on the shutdown itself.{c:544}{c:653}{c:654}",
  "what_happened": "Protests broke out across Iran in mid-November 2019 after the government raised fuel prices without warning. Beginning around November 16, 2019, Iranian authorities imposed a near-total shutdown of internet service that lasted nearly a week, with connectivity dropping to about five percent of normal levels nationwide for several days. Human rights monitors said the blackout appeared aimed at stopping the flow of news about the protests and about the security forces' violent response to them. During the shutdown and the days that followed, at least eleven journalists, including photographers and camera operators, were arrested in connection with the protests. One journalist, Mohammad Mosaed, was arrested specifically for posting on social media about the internet shutdown itself and was released on bail the following month.{c:544}{c:653}{c:654}\n\nClosed; connectivity was restored after roughly a week.{c:544}{c:653}{c:654}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.{c:544}{c:653}{c:654}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "The shutdown prevented most independent reporting on the protests and the security response from leaving the country in real time, and journalists who wrote about the blackout itself were arrested.{c:544}",
  "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not name the specific government body that ordered the shutdown.",
  "status": "historical",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:18Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 10,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:13Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:22:46Z",
  "stage": "silence",
  "ladder_note": "Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal nationwide for nearly a week and arrested a journalist for reporting on the shutdown itself; no United States action in the record has cut off nationwide communications.",
  "country_name": "Iran",
  "tactics": [
    "shutdowns_and_blocking"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "hassan-rouhani",
    "name": "Hassan Rouhani",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/hassan-rouhani"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:19:18Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "historical",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The sources reviewed do not name the specific government body that ordered the shutdown."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "hassan-rouhani",
      "name": "Hassan Rouhani",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/hassan-rouhani"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "mohammad-mosaed",
      "name": "Mohammad Mosaed",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/mohammad-mosaed"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 544,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 170,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "At least 11 journalists arrested since the protests began",
      "statement": "Number of journalists arrested during the period of the shutdown.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 384,
      "evidence_quote": "at least 11 journalists, including photographers and cameramen, had been arrested since the start of the protests in mid-November",
      "evidence_date": "2020-01-01",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:19:17Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 384,
        "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
        "final_url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
        "title": "Freedom in the World 2020: Iran",
        "publisher": "Freedom House",
        "published_on": "2020-01-01",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/544"
    },
    {
      "id": 653,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 170,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Near-total shutdown for nearly a week",
      "statement": "Duration of the shutdown.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 384,
      "evidence_quote": "a near-total shutdown of internet service for nearly a week",
      "evidence_date": "2020-01-01",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:34:44Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 384,
        "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
        "final_url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
        "title": "Freedom in the World 2020: Iran",
        "publisher": "Freedom House",
        "published_on": "2020-01-01",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/653"
    },
    {
      "id": 654,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 170,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Connectivity drops to 5 percent of normal",
      "statement": "Scale of the reduction in connectivity.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 384,
      "evidence_quote": "connectivity dropped to just 5 percent of normal levels for several days",
      "evidence_date": "2020-01-01",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:34:45Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 384,
        "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
        "final_url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
        "title": "Freedom in the World 2020: Iran",
        "publisher": "Freedom House",
        "published_on": "2020-01-01",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/654"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 384,
      "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
      "final_url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-world/2020",
      "title": "Freedom in the World 2020: Iran",
      "publisher": "Freedom House",
      "published_on": "2020-01-01",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 465,
      "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50459971",
      "final_url": null,
      "title": "Iran protests: At least 12 killed at unrest over petrol price rise",
      "publisher": "BBC",
      "published_on": "2019-11-16",
      "link_state": "unchecked",
      "link_state_since": null,
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Iran: near-total internet shutdown during fuel-price protests. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}