- Over 86% of Iranians are now dependent on VPNs to access blocked content, according to the latest Tehran E-Commerce Association’s report
- The report also ranks Iran as 97. Out of 100 countries for Internet quality
- Iran banned the use of “unauthorized” VPNs in February 2024, de facto forbade their use without a legal permission
Nearly 90% of Internet users in Iran are dependent on VPN services to navigate widespread Internet disorders, according to the latest Report of the Tehran E-Commerce Association, published on Sunday August 3rd.
The report, which ranks Iran as 97. Out of 100 countries for Internet quality, also criticizes Iranian authorities for not tackling calls to improve national connection, Iran International reported.
The use of the best VPN services and other circumvention tools that Starlink continues to rise despite a law enforced in February 2024, forbid their use without a legal permit.
Iran’s Internet crisis
“Our conclusions show that 93% of youth and 86% of the VPNs to the public user,” said Pouya Pirhosseinlou, head of the Internet and Infrastructure Committee of the Tehran E-Commerce Association, Iran International reported.
Despite facing some Internet restrictions like those against WhatsApp back in January, many sites remain filtered in Iran at the time of writing, forcing Iranians to find alternative ways to keep in touch.
“Today, about 700,000 small businesses operate on Instagram. At least one million jobs are tied to this platform alone. Disruptions here hit direct people’s livelihood,” explains Pirhosseinlou.
Still, via a reliable virtual private network (VPN), people in Iran can fool their local ISP and access Instagram and other limited platforms within seconds.
This increase in VPN use can also help aggravate the uncertain connection level on Iran’s Internet. Citizens’ Traffic is forced “through distant, ineffective routes and lowering speed,” explains Pirhosseinlou, adding: “Even on unfiltered sites, users keep users on – more degrading national Internet performance.”
This is not the first time that Tehran Electronic Commerce Association – an independent body that monitors and evaluates the Internet situation in Iran – has placed Iran’s Internet among the worst worldwide. In another report dated January 2024, experts just accused the president and Iranian officials’ lack of knowledge to this “self -inflicted” situation.
In a comment on the latest findings, Pirhosseinlou said, “Even if we had America’s infrastructure, Iran’s Internet would still be full of disturbances due to the current filtration.[..] Filtering equipment is in itself disturbing. It causes serious malfunctions across many new protocols and sites. “
Using a VPN in Iran – all you need to know
Although they are increasingly a necessity, the authorities have actively worked to prevent the use of Iranian VPN over the years.
For example, by 2023, Iran was only second for China for VPN censorship. This also happened in 2024 when Iran topped the VPN censorship list over the entire country’s official app stores.
Not just VPN targeted blocking. The regime has even challenged the legality of using a VPN in the first place. In February 2024, Iran banned “unauthorized” VPNs, de facto that banned their use without a legal permit. Three months later, the government also resurfaced an Internet bill that could put the VPN use even more.
CyberSecurity -experts have also recently found a new spyware campaign that is mainly aimed at Iranian Android VPN users via infected fake VPN apps.
For all these reasons, it is very important to choose a reliable, secure and private service. I recommend checking Techradar’s up-to-date guide to the best free VPN in the market to download only the most secure freebie out there-Windscribe Free and Proton VPN Free is today’s top choice.
Techradar’s reviewers also rank NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN and Proton VPN as the best total (in order) at the time of writing, but you will have to pay for a subscription to use these services.
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We test and review VPN services in connection with legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Access to a service from another country (subject to the conditions of this service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when you are abroad. We do not support or condolate the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content paid for is neither approved nor approved by future release.
