On August 27, the regime’s Eghtesad Online website reported that Iranians spending 300 trillion rials on buying and selling virtual private network (VPN) access last year to be able to use the many online services that are blocked by Iran’s regime.
“Statistics indicate that Iranians use the Internet for 169 minutes daily. This statistic shows that 80 percent of Iranians use VPNs to access social networks and messaging apps,” according to the Eghtesad Online.
Published statistics show that 87 percent of Internet users of various age groups in Iran use mobile devices to access the Internet.
According to these statistics, the total number of domestic and foreign online stores and social networks used by users in 2022 exceeded 780,000.
Contrary to the fact that Telegram is one of the first blocked social networks in Iran, Telegram posts on Iranian channels were collectively viewed more than 590 billion times in 2022.
In an interview about the current situation of VPNs in Iran, Mehdi Moslehi, an expert in cybersecurity, told the regime-linked Entekhab website in May, “Until 2018, the monthly sales transaction of VPNs was 50 billion rials (approximately $4.8 million), but now, considering the situation last year, this number has reached close to 5 trillion rials (approximately $10 million) per month.”
In January, during the peak of the nationwide protests, Saeed Naghavi, a member of the board of directors of the IT Union, reported a 3,000 percent increase in demand for VPNs in October 2022 saying, “Reports show that the search volume of Iranian users for obtaining VPNs has set a historical record.”
The Ministry of Sports and Youth also reported during the nationwide protests in 2022: “70 percent of users use VPNs, and out of this number, for every eight people, one person uses a paid VPN.”
Furthermore, in February, a report was published stating that the internet shutdown and filtering in Iran from October 2022 to the end of January 2023 has caused approximately 100 trillion rials (approximately $200 billion) in monthly losses to the Iranian economy.
Blocking access to online services will hit Iran’s economy extremely hard. For example, during the November 2019 protests, the regime carried out a complete shutdown of the internet for several weeks, causing billions of dollars in damage to the economy.
Internet censorship in Iran expanded during the nationwide protests in 2022, and security forces blocked popular social networks.
One of the side effects of filtering in Iran is the income gained by individuals and entities close to the government.
In this regard, Hamid Rezazadeh, the son of Ensieh Khazali, the deputy of the regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, is mentioned as the founder of a VPN service for Iranians called Betternet, according to published reports. (Rezazadeh, a Canadian citizen, is one of many regime elites who are enjoying dual citizenship without being persecuted by the government.)
Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a member of the parliament, stated in an interview with the state-backed student news agency (ISNA) about the chaotic market of buying and selling VPNs in the country: “The income and financial turnover of filtering profiteers exceed 500 trillion rials ($1 billion) per year, and they don’t pay any taxes.”
“How is it possible that a government capable of blocking [internet services] cannot block these VPNs as well? It seems that merchants exist within certain organizations involved in filtering, and I believe this issue needs to be addressed.” He added, “Does the Minister of Information and Communications Technology know who sells these VPNs and with whom they are affiliated?”
Aside from the discrepancies in the numbers reported by different representatives and experts, which clearly indicate the uncontrollable and unregulated nature of this black market, it is worth noting that the restrictive policies in this regard have not been able to bring about significant changes in the buying and selling of these VPNs.
Although the sale of censorship circumvention tools is considered illegal according to the law, it is observed that actors in this field continue their work and even expand it based on the existing demand.
Now, in one of the latest statements, Jalal Rashidi Kouchi, a member of the regime’s parliament, expressed his criticism of the current situation by tweeting: “I had previously warned that the only achievement of blocking is the creation of a thriving market for buying and selling these tools.” He continued, “Censorship has not reduced people’s presence on foreign social networks; it has only caused inconvenience and expenses for the people.”
Even in recent days, as the regime has been experimenting with throttling internet access, many businesses have been disrupted. At present, Iran’s economy is on the verge of total collapse. Every day, people from different walks of life are coming to the streets to protest inflation, high prices, unemployment, and other economic problems. An overhaul of internet access will further aggravate economic woes, triggering more of the same protests that the regime is trying to prevent.
At this point, the mullahs are caught in a web of conflicting dilemmas, each of which will further nudge it toward another major confrontation with the Iranian people and their resistance movement.
