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In November, Iran's government announced a
price hike on oil, leading to mass protests in Tehran. To quell the
spreading unrest, the Iranian government effectively shut down the internet.
After a week of Iranian security forces cracking down on protesters, including an estimated death toll between 140 and 208,
internet access was gradually restored around the country. Judging by
statements made by President Hassan Rouhani, the internet shutdowns
could be a harbinger of more censorship in 2020 and beyond.
Iran's
intranet, known as the National Information Network, will be expanded
so "people will not need foreign [networks] to meet their needs,"
President Rouhani said to Iran's parliament on Sunday, according to Radio Farda.
The decree to bolster the NIN comes from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei himself, Rouhani said.
Developing
a more robust intranet would allow the Iranian government to cut access
to the internet, and Iranians off from the rest of the world, without
the economic self-impairment that internet cutoffs cause.An intranet would allow the Iranian government to select what sites and content Iranians can see, as opposed to the blunt and costly tool of a total shutdown.