{"id":6006,"date":"2026-08-14T10:55:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/?p=6006"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:58:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:58:34","slug":"network-monitoring-july-2026-iranians-are-online-39-less-than-the-global-average","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2026\/08\/14\/network-monitoring-july-2026-iranians-are-online-39-less-than-the-global-average\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fraying Connection: Iranians Spend 39% Less Time Online Than the Global Average"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two months after what the Iranian government has <\/span>described<\/span><\/a> as the \u201crestoration of international internet access\u201d, new data from the Iranian Students Polling Agency (ISPA) <\/span>paints<\/span><\/a> a very different picture of the everyday internet experience in Iran.<\/span> Rather than a genuine return to normal connectivity, the findings point to a gradual and less visible erosion of Iranians\u2019 connection to the global internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iranian users now spend an average of just 4 hours and 3 minutes online each day\u2014around 39% below the <\/span>global average<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> But the more revealing comparison is not with the rest of the world. It is with ISPA\u2019s <\/span>previous survey<\/span><\/a>, conducted in June 2025, before the Twelve-Day War.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the course of a year, the share of people who spend relatively little time online has grown, while the share of heavy internet users has fallen sharply. The shift is even reflected in how the latest survey categorizes daily internet use: the previous \u201c5 to 10 hours\u201d category has disappeared, leaving only a broader \u201c5 hours or more\u201d option.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, July 2026 brought a new wave of restrictive internet policies, expanded surveillance of online activity, infrastructure disruptions, and new forms of filtering. Altogether, these developments suggest that although Iranian users remain technically connected to the network, they have less access than before to a genuinely usable, affordable, and reliable global internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Key Findings<\/b><\/h4>\n

1. Iranians are spending less time online than they did a year ago.<\/b><\/p>\n

A comparison of ISPA surveys conducted in June <\/span>2025<\/span><\/a> and June <\/span>2026<\/span><\/a> shows a significant decline in the share of users in what had been the largest internet-use category.<\/span> The share of users spending 2-5 hours online per day fell from 42.8% to 24.7%, while the share of users spending less time online increased. <\/span>This decline may <\/span>reflect<\/span><\/a> growing user fatigue with persistent filtering and the slow, difficult process of connecting to the global internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Circumventing censorship remains widespread\u2014but has become more expensive.<\/b><\/p>\n

Although roughly three-quarters of users still rely on VPNs or other circumvention tools, access to the global internet has become increasingly tied to users\u2019 ability to pay. Last year, more than half of users who paid for circumvention tools spent less than 200,000 tomans per month (approximately $1.05). In the latest survey, 6% of users report spending more than 1 million tomans (approximately $5.30) per month, while another 6.3% spend between 500,000 and 1 million tomans (approximately $2.65\u2013$5.30).<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Efforts to push users onto domestic platforms have continued to fail.<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite intensified filtering and access restrictions, 71.5% of users continue to use international social media platforms. They also spend more time each day on these platforms, on average, than on their domestic counterparts.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Policymakers have responded with greater control and broader criminalization of online activity.<\/b><\/p>\n

While users continued to face the economic and psychological consequences of internet shutdowns, war, and infrastructure disruptions, the government\u2019s key measures in July focused on increasing penalties for online activity, expanding mechanisms for monitoring and prosecuting users, strengthening centralized control over the internet, and implementing new schemes to regulate online content creators and other internet users.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Iran\u2019s network infrastructure remains vulnerable to physical attacks and power outages.<\/b><\/p>\n

Military attacks, infrastructure disruptions, a major outage affecting Asiatech services, and recurring internet disruptions during power cuts all demonstrated that Iran\u2019s communications network continues to face serious resilience challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Policy Review<\/b><\/h4>\n
ISPA Data Tells a Different Story About the \u201cReturn of the Internet\u201d<\/b><\/h5>\n

\u201cIranian users spend an average of just 4 hours and 3 minutes online each day.\u201d This is one of the key findings of ISPA\u2019s latest <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a>. The figure is 39% below the <\/span>global average<\/span><\/a>. But what makes this finding particularly significant is not how Iran compares with the rest of the world\u2014it is how internet use has changed within Iran over the past year. Iranian users are spending less time online than they did a year ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Data from two ISPA surveys\u2014one conducted in <\/span>June 2026<\/span><\/a>, commissioned by Iran\u2019s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, and the other in <\/span>June 2025<\/span><\/a>, commissioned by the Tehran E-Commerce Association \u2014point to a significant shift in daily internet use among Iranian users.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The two surveys indicate some changes in daily internet use, but differences in the way usage categories were defined make direct year-to-year comparisons difficult. In particular, the 2026 survey no longer separates users spending 5 to 10 hours online from those spending more than 10 hours, instead grouping them into a single \u201c5 hours or more\u201d category.<\/span><\/p>\n