Serious Warning About the Future of Iran’s Digital Economy: Risk of Destruction of Hundreds of Thousands of Businesses
The “Internet Business Association” issued a stark warning in an open letter to responsible authorities, including the Minister of Communications, regarding the devastating consequences of recent internet network disruptions in the country. According to Radio Farda, the association emphasized that the imposed restrictions and degraded internet quality have inflicted irreparable damage to Iran’s digital economy and called for an immediate halt to this process.
According to the association’s estimates, each hour of internet outage causes a loss of approximately $1.5 million to the country’s economy. This comes at a time when the livelihoods of millions of Iranians depend on more than 400,000 small and medium-sized businesses that are now, following these disruptions, on the brink of bankruptcy and complete destruction.
The letter points to multiple technical problems including “DNS manipulation, intentional speed reduction, and protocol filtering” that have effectively disrupted communication with the global internet network. According to the association, this situation has triggered a wave of workforce reductions, suspension of investments, and bankruptcy of startup companies.
Government officials attributed these restrictions to security issues and countering Israeli exploitation of information through foreign messaging applications. This claim is being made at a time when experts and even some domestic sources, such as statements from the daughter of one of the slain commanders, have rejected it and deemed tracking capabilities to extend far beyond messaging applications such as WhatsApp.
In closing its letter, the Internet Business Association warned of the collapse of public confidence, increased brain drain, and the death of the country’s startup ecosystem, urging officials to urgently end all forms of internet quality degradation and restore normal conditions for online business operations. This comes at a time when Iran has previously ranked low on global indices of internet freedom and speed.
