- Millions of Iranians may lose access to US-backed VPN services
- The Open Technology Fund (OTF) said that demand for VPNs has increased from 7.5 to 25 million
- The OTF needs $10 million in funding, which US agencies are slow to approve
Millions of Iranians could lose access to vital VPN services “as soon as next week” as US agencies scramble to secure funding for an internet freedom group tasked with supporting the country’s growing demand.
The warning comes from Open Technology Fund (OTF). Its president, Laura Cunningham, told Bloomberg that the team “will be forced to make tough decisions” if US officials cannot provide the $10 million required to cope with a massive increase in users. Demand for anti-censorship technology in the region has recently skyrocketed from 7.5 to 25 million users.
The Iranian government imposed a near-total communications blackout on January 8 in response to massive anti-government protests, cutting off landline internet, mobile data and international voice calls.
While connectivity has slowly been restored since the end of January, the latest data shows that internet traffic remains severely limited. VPN services and other circumvention tools currently represent the only way for Iranians to bypass state censorship and access the global Internet.
OTF and VPN funding – what we know
OTF is a US-based non-profit organization that provides vital resources for anti-censorship technologies. Its work supports a range of privacy-focused tools – including VPNs, the Tor browser and Psiphon – while funding researchers who advance digital rights and internet freedom globally.
The group is primarily funded by the US government through the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). According to their website, these resources are dedicated to supporting programs that “promote internet freedom globally,” and often serve as a financial lifeline for open source tools that would otherwise struggle to scale in times of crisis.
Do you know that?
Iran has reportedly begun implementing a permanent “whitelisting” system to tighten its control over the Internet. Experts warn that such a system – which allows only pre-approved traffic – could make the use of standard VPN services significantly more difficult, if not impossible.
Cunningham explains that the typical funding mechanism involves the State Department giving money to the USAGM, which then allocates it to the OTF. This process usually takes no more than a few weeks.
However, internal disputes have caused a major bottleneck. According to letters seen by Bloomberg, the USAGM, the US State Department and several US senators are currently unable to agree on a viable path to approve the necessary $10 million.
In a letter dated Feb. 5, USAGM Deputy Executive Director Kari Lake suggested that official signing of the funding “would take months.” Lake recommended that the OTF instead use its existing budget to cover the increase in demand originating from Iran.
This proposal was met with pushback from Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and James Lankford, who argued that diverting existing funds would compromise vital programs in China, Cuba and Russia.
OTF Board Chairman Zack Cooper also criticized the delay, telling Bloomberg that if USAGM wanted OTF to have these additional resources, the funding would have already been approved.
These financial hurdles follow a series of budget cuts and staff reductions at the USAGM that the Trump administration initiated through 2025 and early 2026.
We have reached out to OTF for further comment.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
