Between February 8, 2024, and the end of the month, there have been widespread and deliberate disruptions on protocols used in censorship circumvention tools and VPNs. Our research, which includes insights from developers of widely-used VPNs in Iran and data from the network monitoring community, indicates extensive and targeted disruptions on protocols such as Shadowsocks, SMTP-mimicker, SSL-TLS, and others from mid-December 2023 to the end of February 2024.
The timing of these disruptions aligns with the Supreme Council of Cyberspace’s decision (Alternative link) on November 14, 2023, to boost the share of domestic internet traffic and combat the use of circumvention tools. Notably, clause 6 of the measures explicitly bans the use of VPNs unless legally authorized by the government.
Although legally, the Supreme Council of Cyberspace does not have the legislative power to ban VPNs, and Iranian officials claim the clause targets only government institutions and organizations, the timing and nature of the disruptions suggest that the resolution has likely led to the extensive VPN disruptions, impacting the daily activities of ordinary people.
Other Notable Disruptions:
According to IODA charts, between January 30 and March 1, 2024, the internet provider AS44375 owned by Asman-Faraz Sepahan experienced disruptions across all provinces of Iran.
According to IODA charts, the internet in Sistan and Baluchestan province experienced severe disruptions from 21:50 on February 26 until 11:20 the following day.
According to IODA charts, the internet in Ardabil province experienced severe disruptions from January 30 to March 1, 2024, between 5 to 7 AM.
Chart of internet disruption in Ardabil province from January 30 to March 1, 2024 – Source: IODA
According to IODA charts, the internet in Alborz province experienced significant disruptions in network routing or active probing every morning between 5:30 to 9:30 from January 30 to March 1, 2024. This disruption has been observed in Alborz province since October 2023.
According to IODA statistics, the internet in Qazvin province experienced a very severe disruption on February 23, 2024.
According to IODA statistics, the internet in Azerbaijan province experienced severe disruptions on February 12 and 16, as well as February 23, 2024.
