What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future · Slate Podcasts
Why Dictators Take Out the Internet
February 1, 2026·27 min·2 clips
In Iran, shutting off the internet gave the regime cover to commit horrific acts of violence against protesters.
As heard by us
A serious look at internet control as a tool of power, from blocking and throttling to shutdowns.
The episode makes a clear case that internet control is often more than a clean cutoff. It shows how blocking and throttling can narrow access or slow it to a crawl until services are barely usable, which makes the politics feel immediate rather than abstract.
Why you'd press play
Want a clear explanation of internet shutdowns, platform blocking, and throttling?
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