The splinternet: how online shutdowns are getting cheaper and easier to impose

Iran has shown how plausible blackouts now are, with far-reaching consequences for the internet as we know it

During the height of Iran's blackout in January, people could still access a platform that, in some senses, was like the internet.

Iranians could message family members on a government-monitored app and watch clips of Manchester United on a Farsi-language video-sharing site. They could read state news and use a local navigation service.