- More than 86% of Iranians now depend on VPN to access blocked content, according to the latest report of the Tehran Electronic Association
- The report also classifies Iran as 97 out of every 100 countries for Internet quality.
- Iran prohibited the use of “unauthorized” VPN in February 2024, de facto that prohibits its use without legal permission
Almost 90% of Internet users in Iran depend on VPN services to navigate generalized interruptions on the Internet, according to the latest report of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association published on Sunday, August 3.
The report, which classifies Iran as 97 out of every 100 countries for Internet quality, also criticizes Iranian authorities for not addressing calls to improve national connectivity, Iran’s international reported.
The use of the best VPN services and other choice tools, such as Starlink, continue to increase despite a law applied in February 2024, prohibits its use without legal permission.
Iran’s Internet Crisis
“Our findings show that 93% of young people and 86% of the general public use VPNs,” said Pirhosseinlou, head of the Internet and Infrastructure of the Tehran Electronic Commerce Association, Iran’s International reported.
Despite facilitating some Internet restrictions such as those that against WhatsApp in January, many websites remain filtered in Iran at the time of writing, which forced the Iranians to find alternative ways of staying connected.
“Today, around 700,000 small companies operate on Instagram. At least one million jobs are linked only to that platform. The interruptions here directly affect people’s livelihoods,” explains Pirhosseinlou.
However, through a reliable virtual (VPN) private network, people in Iran can fool their local Internet services provider and get access to Instagram and other platforms restricted in seconds.
This increase in the use of VPN can also contribute to worsen the precarious level of Internet connectivity of Iran. Citizens trafficking is forced to “through distant and inefficient routes and the speed of decrease,” explains Pirhosseinlou, adding: “Even in unilrurtant websites, users keep the VPNs in the national internet performance degradation of later.”
This is not the first time that the 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 January 2024 report, experts blamed precisely on the lack of knowledge of the president and Iranian officials for this “self -inflicted” situation.
When commenting on the latest findings, Pirhosseinlou said: “Even if we had the United States infrastructure, Iran’s Internet would still be full of interruptions due to current filtering.[..] The filtering equipment is inherently harmful. It causes malfunction in many emerging websites and websites. “
Using a VPN in Iran, everything you need to know
Despite being more and more a need, the authorities have actively working to avoid the use of Iranian VPN over the years.
For example, in 2023, Iran was only for China for VPN censorship. This also happened in 2024, when Iran were headed by VPN’s censorship list in official country’s application stores.
However, not only the block directed by VPN. The regime has even challenged the legality of using a VPN in the first place. In February 2024, I was banned “unauthorized” VPN, de facto that prohibits its use without legal permission. Three months later, the Government also resurrected an Internet bill that could even put the use of VPN at risk.
Cybersecurity experts have also recently found a new Spyware campaign, mainly Android Iranian VPN users through infected false VPN applications.
For all these reasons, it is very important to choose a reliable, safe and private service. I recommend verifying the updated PakGazette guide of the best free VPN in the market to download only the safest gift: Windscribe Free Free and Proton VPN Free are the best options today.
Techradar reviewers also classify NordvPN, Surfshark, Expressvpn and Proton VPN as the best general (in order) at the time of writing, but will have to pay a subscription to use these services.
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We tested and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Access a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protect your online safety and strengthen your online privacy when you are abroad. We do not support or tolerate the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. The consumption of pirated content that is paid is not backed or approved by Future Publishing.
