Online connection to the rest of the world will become a privilege for the most loyal
Iran is preparing a permanent and almost complete disconnection from the global internet, with free online access becoming a “state privilege” reserved only for those approved and vetted by the regime, Iranian digital rights activists have claimed, as quoted in a report by Filterwatch, an organization that monitors internet censorship in the country, The Guardian reports.
According to sources, a confidential plan is being implemented in Iran, under which only people with special permission or who have passed loyalty checks will have access to a heavily filtered version of the global internet. All others will be restricted to the so-called “national internet” – a parallel, internal network isolated from the global one.
State media and official spokesmen are already signaling that this is a permanent change and that full access will not be restored. This would make Iran the second country in the world, after North Korea, to adopt a near-complete break with the global online network.
The current massive internet shutdown in Iran began on January 8, after nearly two weeks of escalating anti-government protests. As a result, information leaving the country is severely restricted. The blockade is already one of the most severe in history, lasting longer than the internet shutdown in Egypt during the 2011 Tahrir Square protests.
An Iranian official told local media that the international internet will remain shut down at least until March 20, when Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, is celebrated.
A former US official who monitors online censorship described the idea of a permanent disconnection from the global web as “both plausible and terrifying.” The economic and cultural consequences would be huge, he said, and the authorities risked “overdoing it.”
According to Amir Rashidi of Filterwatch, Iranian authorities appear to be content with the current level of control and believe the internet blockade has helped contain the protests. The current situation is the culmination of a 16-year effort to tighten state control over the web. Part of this strategy is the so-called “whitelisting” – a system that allows only selected users to access the global internet, while blocking everyone else.
According to researchers from Project Ainita and the Outline Foundation, this system is likely built using technology exported from China. These include high-capacity “middlebox” devices that allow for the monitoring and manipulation of internet traffic on a national scale – from tracking individual users to blocking sites, protocols and VPN services.
In parallel, Iran has been developing a “national internet” since 2009, after realizing that a complete shutdown would cause huge economic damage. Today, this internal network offers a limited set of controlled services – Iranian messaging apps, search engines, navigation and a streaming platform similar to Netflix – and works even during protests, but is completely isolated from the outside world.
Over the years, the authorities have used a combination of incentives and pressure to force banks, online businesses and providers to move their infrastructure inside the country. In this way, Iran has gradually built a functioning internal internet ecosystem, which is now the main – and for most people the only – way to access the web.
According to experts, while Iran has significant technical capabilities for control, it remains unclear whether the regime will be able to permanently impose this “new online reality”. However, it is certain that the cost to the economy and society will be heavy, and the responsibility for this damage will fall squarely on the rulers.