Governments have done it. The U.S. has the legal authority to do it. Here's how to stay informed when it happens.
Duration: 892 hours (over 37 days)
Trigger: Fuel price protests following a sudden 300% increase
Iran's government ordered a complete nationwide internet shutdown to suppress protests. International observers were cut off from events inside the country.
Estimated 1,500+ people were killed during the blackout. Because communications were severed, the international community only learned the scale of the violence weeks later.
This provision was written in 1934 for telegraph and telephone. Legal scholars confirm it applies to modern internet infrastructure. It has never been invoked, but the authority exists. The Obama administration reviewed it in 2012 and concluded the power was real but chose not to act on it.
If the internet goes down, these tools still function.