How Iranians communicate despite the internet blockade imposed by the regime

The latest internet shutdown in Iran has lasted more than 14 days, according to Netblocks, an organization that monitors connectivity, reported on Friday. The nature of the restrictions on internet activity demonstrates that this is a measure imposed by the government and not by the damage caused by US and Israeli air strikes, Isik Mater, head of research at Netblocks, told AFP.

“It is a deliberate blockade imposed by the authorities to suppress the flow of information and prevent further demonstrations of dissent,” said Raha Bahreini, Amnesty International's Iran researcher.

We recommend reading:Iran launches new attacks against Israel and US targets in the Persian Gulf

The following describes some of the ways information continues to enter and leave Iran:

Shortwave Radio

The non-profit broadcaster Radio Zamaneh, based in Amsterdam, began broadcasting on shortwave during the January protests, airing a nightly news program in Persian starting at 23:00 Tehran time. “It is very difficult for the regime to interfere with shortwave because it is a long-distance transmission”, explained to the AFP the executive director, Rieneke van Santen. "People can simply listen on a small, simple, and very cheap radio... It's one of those typical emergency solutions." Without specifying the transmitter's location, he said it is “closer to the Netherlands than to Iran”, although Tehran “can find out” if it wants to.

Phone Calls


Many people with ties to Iran are still receiving phone calls from within the country, “quite surprising” given the internet blockade, said Mahsa Alimardani, from the international human rights organization Witness.

Fearing that the authorities will overhear conversations, people tend to avoid speaking directly about political topics, such as the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he added. You can also read: “It is not possible to communicate about sensitive issues through these brief phone calls”, said Bahreini, from Amnesty International.

The necessary international prepaid cards are expensive and often do not provide the face value in minutes.

"You buy a phone card for 60 minutes, but it runs out in eight minutes," said van Santen. "Actually, it's just calls from relatives saying: 'After the bombing, we are still alive'." VPN or other internet services The Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), widely used services that encrypt internet traffic, cannot create an internet connection where one does not exist. But even with a level of connectivity close to one percent of the usual, Iran's connectivity "is still a considerable figure in absolute terms," stated Mater, from Netblocks. Iranians suspected of using VPNs since the start of the war have received warning text messages allegedly from the authorities. Before the war, millions turned to Psiphon, a Toronto-based company that creates specialized tools more powerful than conventional "commercial" VPNs.

By offering techniques that include disguising user data as different types of internet traffic, Psiphon "succeeds in evading detection more successfully", stated to AFP Keith McManamen, director of data and information.

With up to six million unique daily users in Iran before the last internet shutdown, connections have drastically reduced to less than 100,000.

For now, only the most tech-savvy users can access the Psiphon network.

However, "the situation is extremely dynamic. We are seeing changes not only from day to day, but from hour to hour," said McManamen. A similar service, Lantern, based in the United States, is also widely used in Iran.

Satellite transmissions

Created by the US-based non-profit organization NetFreedom Pioneers, Toosheh is a "file transmission" technology that uses home satellite television equipment to transmit encrypted data to people in Iran. Users record from the Toosheh satellite television channel onto a USB drive connected to their decoder, which they can then decrypt using a special application installed on their phone or computer.

From that initial download, the data can be copied and shared between multiple households.

The group estimated around three million active users in Iran by 2025, with "thousands or hundreds of thousands... since the internet shutdown in January," Emilia James, the group's project director, told the AFP. In addition to its usual educational repertoire, which ranges from English classes to news, the current content includes more information on "personal safety and digital security... to help people stay safe," she added. Since people connect to a broadcast signal, the government has no way to track them, he added.

Starlink

The Starlink satellite internet service, owned by Elon Musk, was used during this year's protests to disseminate information, while the government attempted to block its signals. With an approximate price of $2000 on the Iranian black market, the terminals are expensive and very scarce in poorer regions such as Baluchistan or Kurdistan, which have suffered the greatest governmental repression, Alimardani said. Meanwhile, Amnesty International has received reports of "raids on homes... and detentions of people who possessed Starlink devices," Bahreini stated. The penalties for those caught communicating with the outside world range from prison sentences to the death penalty, he added. Starlink did not respond to AFP's request for comment on its use in Iran.