- Iranian lawmaker blames ‘VPN mafia’ for Iran’s Telegram ban
- Talks have reportedly been held to lift the ban.
- Iranians cannot access Telegram without a VPN since 2018
Even though Iran is said to be set to lift its seven-year ban on Telegram, the messaging platform remains restricted in the country. The culprit? Economic interests linked to the sale of VPN, according to an Iranian legislator.
As Iran International reported, the secretary of parliament’s Industry and Mines Committee, Mostafa Pourdehghan, claimed that the “VPN mafia” is lobbying against the lifting of restrictions.
“The financial turnover of VPNs is about 50 trillion Tomans (about $450 million), and beneficiaries hide behind sacred slogans like national security to benefit from continuous filtering,” he said.
The debate over banning Telegram has been resurrected over the last week. Multiple reports suggest that Iran is currently in talks with Telegram officials to find a compromise to bring Pavel Durov’s platform back online.
“Some colleagues in the Ministry of Communications have unofficially told us that Telegram will be unblocked soon,” Pourdehghan said, adding that a “parliamentary investigation and inspection into the background” of the push against lifting the ban is currently underway.
After imposing temporary restrictions in 2017, Iran blocked Telegram in May 2018 on national security grounds during a wave of attacks that broke out across the country. Since then, citizens have not been able to access the app without one of the best VPNs.
The rise of VPNs in Iran
For many years, Iran has imposed strict control on what citizens can and cannot access on the Internet.
However, in December 2024, the government eased some of these internet restrictions when it brought WhatsApp and Google Play back online. However, most social media platforms remain banned in the country.
According to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker, Facebook, X and YouTube have been restricted since 2009, more than 15 years ago. Instagram, which was blocked during the 2022 protests, and WhatsApp (again) also remain restricted at the time of writing.
Such a level of Internet censorship has been pushing an increasing number of citizens to bypass software such as virtual private network (VPN) tools.
According to an August report by the Tehran E-Commerce Association, nearly 90% of Iranians now use a VPN to avoid widespread internet outages.
Iranian VPN usage continues to increase despite current problems. In February 2024, a law was implemented prohibiting the use of VPNs without legal permission. Iran also continues to block VPN traffic as much as it can, topping the list for VPN censorship in official app stores in 2024.
As a Proton spokesperson told Techradar, despite Iran blocking VPNs, the country remains in Proton VPN’s top 10 list of free VPN users. “Many Iranians are isolated from global financial networks, making it difficult for them to pay for VPN services,” the Switzerland-based company said.
However, while many popular VPN services, such as Proton VPN, are developed by foreign providers, Iranian companies have also entered the market, seeking to benefit from the growing demand for VPNs, an industry that is believed to earn approximately $500 million each year.
What are the chances of Iran lifting the Telegram ban?
Whether Iran’s VPN industry is behind the push to keep internet filters in place or not, getting Telegram back online appears to be a challenge anyway.
Iran’s conditions for lifting the ban include Telegram’s obligation to limit ethnically provocative content, cooperate with Iran’s judiciary on data requests, and block terrorist or anti-national security channels.
These demands appear to clash with Durov’s beliefs about freedom of expression, but appear non-negotiable to the Iranian authorities.
“If a platform does not accept internal regulations, it will not receive a license,” said Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran International reported.
So it looks like people in Iran will need to continue using a VPN to access Telegram for some time.
We suggest you check out our best free VPN page to download only the safest freebies, or take a look at today’s best VPN deals if you want to get a premium version.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
