Internet Bans Cost Iranians $400 Million Annually
An Iranian MP has estimated that the annual financial turnover of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in Iran is approximately $900 million amid widespread internet bans.
An Iranian MP has estimated that the annual financial turnover of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) in Iran is approximately $900 million amid widespread internet bans.
The revelation stems from a survey conducted by MP Jalal Rashidi Kouchi who calculated that if the minimum monthly price of a VPN in Iran is $2, citizens would be compelled to spend around $480 million annually on these tools to circumvent regime bans on the likes of Instagram and Whatsapp.
He also estimated that the shutdowns on popular apps used for social networking and e-commerce cost the public an additional $400 million.
In September, Yekta Net Advertising Company published a report estimating the market volume of circumvention tools in 2022 to be between $500 million to $600 million. According to the report, 80% of Iranians use VPNs to access social networks, while the Islamic Republic currently restricts access to major international social networks and messaging platforms.
Estimations of VPN sales in Iran in recent years have been approximations due to a lack of transparent data. The estimates typically focus on the direct costs citizens pay to bypass censorship, overlooking government expenses in equipping and maintaining the online censorship system.
Despite the controversies, officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, including Minister Isa Zarepour, have consistently rejected published statistics on the matter, avoiding responsibility.
According to Freedom House, Iran was the Middle East's worst country for internet freedom in 2023, its rating worsening in the wake of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising.
Iran-backed militias have been targeting American forces almost daily for over a month, totalling 61 attacks in which at least 59 staff have been wounded. They say their operations are in support of Palestinians and will continue as long as the United States backs the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
In response, the Biden administration has so far approved three airstrikes on IRGC-affiliated facilities in Syria, the last of which on 12 November killed “seven militants”, according to US officials.
“Are we trying to deter future Iranian attacks like this,” a Pentagon official told the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. “There’s no clear definition of what we are trying to deter.”
As Iran uses the war in Gaza to fuel its proxies' actions against its archenemies Israel and the US, regime rhetoric is relishing the opportunity posed by the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7. Thousands of terrorists invaded Israel killing at least 1,200 mostly civilians in the single most deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust. While Iran denies involvement, it funds the group tens of millions each year and supports it militarily.
“We have seen the first stage of expansion of the scope of the war by the resistance groups who make their own decisions,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Monday, distancing himself from the proxy attacks on Israel and the US which have come from Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.
“And if the possible scenarios to stop the crimes of the Zionists do not come to fruition, we will probably witness a new situation in the region,” he warned. On Sunday, Iran's Yemeni proxy, the Houthis, admitted hijacking what it had believed to be an Israeli-owned ship while on Monday, the situation on Israel's northern border had escalated under its proxy Hezbollah.
The Biden administration is mindful of not escalating the conflict and turning it into a full-scale regional war that would inexorably drag in American troops. They have warned Iran and its proxies many times that the United States will not tolerate attacks on its forces and would retaliate. Warships and troops have also been brought to the region to deter further aggression, yet the attacks are continuing unabated.
However, if the attacks on US bases carry on at the current rate, it is only a matter of time before US military personnel get killed, forcing the administration to react.
Some in Washington say Biden's softly-softly approach has emboldened the regime, not least since the recent hostage deal which saw five unlawfully detained US-Iranians released in exchange for the freeing up of $6bn of frozen Iranian funds in south Korea and a possible $10bn more in the offing.
Many attacks on US troops are carried out by one-way drones, which Iran manufactures on a large scale, even giving them to Russia to be used in its war against Ukraine.
“They keep shooting, waiting for us to respond. We don’t, so they keep shooting,” said Senator Kevin Cramer of the Armed Services Committee. “Our posture has to be a little more aggressive than just strictly defensive, because one of these days, we’re going to miss one of those drones.”
