The 2019 blackout was the most wide-scale internet shutdown ever in Iran.[8][9] It was "the most severe disconnection tracked by NetBlocks in any country in terms of its technical complexity and breadth."[3] Although It was a near-total shutdown, top Iranian politicians still had access to the Internet.[8] The 2019 blackout was the first-ever and longest total Internet shutdown in a large country.[10] It was also the first blackout that effectively isolated a whole nation.[11]