Internet Restrictions in Iran and the 600 Billion Toman VPN Market
The free flow of information has become the number one enemy of Iranian officials and Islamic Republic authorities since the internet entered Iran—an enemy they have attempted to combat through filtering, but have faced failure each time.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has repeatedly addressed the internet and cyberspace in his speeches over the past several years, calling on officials to control this space. In his latest speech to judicial officials, he stated: “Every day, a piece of news and a rumor in cyberspace damage social peace, and the judiciary must deal with this issue even if no law exists in this regard—quickly draft and implement a law.”
The Supreme Leader’s emphatic insistence on controlling the internet and cyberspace has launched a plan in parliament called the “Preservation Plan” (Tahfiz Plan)—a proposal that has not yet become law and continues to be passed between various state institutions. Experts say this plan, contrary to its name, is actually a plan for the death of the global internet and its limitation to a domestic or national internet.
One of the important issues addressed in the Preservation Plan is Article 20. According to Article 20 of this plan, any commercial activity in the production, distribution, reproduction, and unauthorized provision of “VPN” is prohibited; however, it appears this prohibition does not cover all VPN services, and even the issue of formal and legal VPN sales is being discussed.
Using VPN or VPN services is one of the ways to circumvent filtering in Iran—a method that is costly for ordinary people but lucrative for certain groups. A member of the Iranian Internet Business Guild previously told IRNA news agency: “The turnover of VPN sales in Iran is 50 billion toman monthly and 600 billion toman annually.”
Mohammadjavad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Information and Communications Technology under the Rouhani government, also spoke in an open parliamentary session in September 2019 about the existence of a VPN mafia and multi-hundred-billion-toman commercial trade in VPN sales.
An information technology expert says that the Preservation Plan mentions VPN sales businesses. Milad Nouri adds: “In the discussion of legal or classified VPN, users facing the extensive restrictions that come with the Preservation Plan will need legal VPNs for any level of internet usage. This will cause the current VPN and VPN market to merge with legal VPN services.”
It appears that the multi-hundred-billion-toman VPN and VPN service market and the substantial profits from this market have not escaped the attention of the authorities, and alongside the plan to restrict the internet, they intend to channel this money from the mafia’s pockets into their own coffers.
Source: Voice of America
