- Total Internet Blackout in Iran by December 31, 2026?37¢37%
Iranian authorities have repeatedly imposed severe nationwide internet restrictions in 2026 amid protests and conflict, shaping trader views on the likelihood of a total blackout by upcoming dates. An 88-day near-total outage from late February to late May followed the outbreak of conflict with the United States and Israel, dropping traffic to roughly 1% of normal levels according to NetBlocks and Cloudflare data—the longest such event on record. Partial restoration occurred in late May under President Masoud Pezeshkian, but connectivity stabilized at only about 59-60% of prior volumes with tiered “Internet Pro” access, ongoing filtering, and slowdowns. Fresh nationwide disruptions and mobile restrictions reported by NetBlocks in October 2026 coincided with renewed protests over economic collapse, currency devaluation, and inflation, while officials advance a domestic intranet and countermeasures against satellite services like Starlink. These patterns of using connectivity controls during unrest, combined with persistent filtering and protest risks through year-end, drive the market’s assessment of escalation potential versus gradual or selective reconnection.
Rules
This market will resolve to “Yes” if a total internet blackout occurs in Iran by the specified date, 11:59 PM UTC. Otherwise, this market will resolve to “No”. For the purposes of this market, a “total internet blackout” occurring means that, according to Cloudflare Radar data for Iran, total bytes transferred have fallen to 1.0% or less of the last 4 weeks’ Max for at least six consecutive hourly data points, as shown in the Traffic trends → Bytes transferred (Total bytes) chart for the last 4 weeks (https://radar.cloudflare.com/traffic/ir?dateRange=28d). The relevant figures for each hourly data point are listed in this chart as “__% of Max”. The Max for each data point will be the Max figure used in the chart by Cloudflare. Only the first of the relevant consecutive hourly data points must fall before this market’s resolution time. If required, to confirm the full sequence, the market will remain open until both relevant data points are observed. The primary resolution source for this market will be Cloudflare Radar data for Iran, specifically the Iran Traffic trends chart for the last 4 weeks found at https://radar.cloudflare.com/traffic/ir?dateRange=28d. If this resolution source becomes permanently unavailable, a consensus of credible reporting may also be used.