Iran is known for having one of the world's most restrictive internet censorship systems, including heavy restrictions on many popular websites and online services such as YouTube,TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram. Internet traffic in the country is heavily restricted and monitored. The Internet Filtering Committee (Iran) headed by Prosecutor-General of Iran decides which websites must be censored and implements this vast censorship. Internet censorship legislation is conducted by Supreme Council of Cyberspace.
In response to the 2019 Iranian protests, the government implemented a total Internet shutdown, reducing traffic to just 5% of normal levels. A 2022 poll ranked Iran as the country with the sixth-highest level of Internet censorship after it repeatedly disrupted Internet access and blocked social media platforms to curb protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. The government is now targeting virtual private networks (VPNs) in an effort to completely block citizens' access to foreign media and online content.
It is estimated that more than 5 million websites are filtered in Iran. The country is considered one of the most restricted in the world in terms of internet access.
Iran's name was removed from global internet speedtest ranking in 2026.
In 2026 Iran raised internet prices three fold and charges three times (around 2.7 GB) for every 1 GB of internet usage as opposed to national intranet filtered by the government's National Information Network. History Pre 2000s Following the establishment of a theocratic government in 1979, religious authorities used a mix of bombastic propaganda and brutal censorship to consolidate their political power and demonize potential opponents. Building upon a long tradition of resistance to Western influence throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the newly empowered religious authorities sought to dominate the information sphere in all its forms (e.g., traditional print media, oral debate, and electronic media).
Iran was the second country in the Middle East, after Israel, to embrace the Digital Age. In January 1993 Dr. Larijani, director of the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM), sent Iran's first e-mail message (a greeting to administrators at the University of Vienna). Initially, the leadership of the Islamic Republic viewed the internet as a tool which could (1) improve the efficiency of the state bureaucracy with the development of e-government programs; (2) provide an alternative means of scientific and technological advancement during the troubled economic period following the Iran-Iraq War; (3) serve as a forum to disseminate revolutionary propaganda; and (4) aid in further legitimizing the Islamic regime's "authority in the face of internal strife over the definition of the revolutionary state." Despite early excitement by 1997, the threat of an open and free internet would be identified by conservative groups within the Islamic government, resulting in early attempts at censorship and restriction.
Early 2000s Iran underwent a significant increase in internet usage in the early 2000s. Many users saw the internet as an easy way to circumvent Iran's strict press laws.Feuilherade, P. (2002.) "Iran's banned press turns to the net". BBC.com. Retrieved 9 December 2006.BBC News. (2003.) "Iran Steps Up Net Censorship". BBC.com. Retrieved 9 December 2006. As international internet usage grew, its censorship increased, and many popular websites were blocked, especially after 2005 under the administration of conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In 2005–2018, Ayatollah Khamenei sent letters to the presidents of Iran, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, and the IRGC, ordering them to form a national intranet called the National Information Network. The National Information Network was unveiled during the 2019 Iranian protests. The NIN works in a way similar to the Great Firewall of China, but with more strict monitoring.
In 2006 and 2010, the activist group Reporters Without Borders labeled Iran one of the 13 countries designated "Enemies of the Internet."Tait, R. (2006.) "Censorship fears rise as Iran blocks access to top websites" . The Guardian UK. Retrieved 9 December 2006. Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to share its deep concern and ask for her intervention in the case of two netizens and free speech defenders, Vahid Asghari and Hossein Derakhshan.
2010s Following the 2009 election protests, Iran ratified the Computer Crimes Law (CCL) in 2010. The CCL established legal regulations for internet censorship. Notable provisions of the CCL include the following: Article 10, which effectively prohibits internet users and companies from using encryption or protecting data in a manner that would "deny access of authorized individuals to data, computer, and telecommunication systems"; Article 14, which criminalizes "producing, sending, publishing, distributing, saving or financially engaging in obscene content"; Article 21, which mandates ISPs to maintain records of internet traffic data and the personal information of their Internet users; and Article 48, which mandates ISPs to record data from telephone conversations over the internet.
In April 2011, Ali Agha-Mohammadi, a senior official, announced the government had plans to launch a halal internet that would conform to Islamic values and provide government-approved services. The $6 billion project had been initially proposed in 2006, and would result in the creation of the National Information Network (NIN) (Shabake-ye Melli-ye Ettela'at). The system would completely disconnect the Iranian people from other parts of the world."Iran clamps down on Internet use" , Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian, 5 January 2012 Such a network, similar to one used by North Korea, would prevent unwanted information from outside of Iran from entering the closed system.Christopher Rhoads and Farnaz Fassihi, 28 May 2011, Iran Vows to Unplug Internet , Wall Street Journal The development of the closed system was hastened due to the Green Movement protests which began in June 2009 continuing into 2010, as well as the discovery of the Stuxnet Virus in June 2010.
In 2012, Iran's ministry of information and communication technology began testing a countrywide "national internet" network as a substitute for services run through the World Wide Web. It also began working on software robots to analyze emails and chats and find more "effective ways of controlling user's online activities". One Iranian IT expert defended the program as aimed not "primarily" at curbing the global internet but at securing Iran's military, banking, and sensitive data from outside cyber-attacks such as Stuxnet. In addition, by late January 2012, internet café owners were required to record the identities of their customers before providing services. According to the news website Tabnak, an Iranian policy statement states:Internet cafes are required to write down the forename, surname, name of the father, national identification number, postcode, and telephone number of each customer. Besides the personal information, they must maintain other information of the customer such as the date and the time of using the internet and the IP address, and the addresses of the websites visited. They should keep these informations for each individual for at least six months.In preparation for the March 2012 elections and the launch of a national internet, the Iranian government instituted strict rules for cybercafés. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, instructed the Iranian authorities to set up the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, a body to oversee the internet. It consists of the president of Iran, the Minister of Intelligence, and IRGC chiefs. It defines policy and coordinates decisions regarding the internet. It is thought to be the strongest attempt at internet censorship by any country to date. It requires all Iranians to register their websites with the Ministry of Art and Culture.
Also in March 2012, Iran began implementing a national intranet. This effort was partially in response to Western actions such as the Stuxnet cyberattack on Iran's main uranium enrichment facility, which fueled suspicions against foreign technologies. The government and Islamic Revolutionary Guard's response has been to mandate the use of Iranian email systems, block popular web-mail services, inhibit encryption use by disabling VPNs and HTTPS, and ban externally developed security software.
In May 2012, Iran criticized Google for dropping the name "Persian Gulf" from its maps, leaving the feature unlabeled. Six days after Khamenei's statement, Iran announced that Google and Gmail would be added to the list of banned sites, to be replaced by the national network. Iranian media reported that the new system would be ready by March 2013. Gmail and Google were later unblocked in early October 2012. The Iranian alternative to Google was Parsijoo, which is disabled now. The network already hosted some government and academic sites.
The isolation of the separate network was also touted as an improvement to network security in the wake of Stuxnet. A computer virus was also found in Iran's major Kharg Island oil export terminal in April. Communications and Technology Minister Reza Taqipour said, "Control over the internet should not be in the hands of one or two countries. Especially on major issues and during crises, one cannot trust this network at all."
In September 2012, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Western leaders to censor the trailer for Innocence of Muslims, which was posted to YouTube. Khamenei alluded to bans on Nazi-related or anti-gay sites in some countries, asking, "How there is no room for freedom of expression in these cases, but insulting Islam and its sanctities is free?".
Starting in mid-2014, the government of then-President Hassan Rouhani sought to ease internet restrictions in the country, with Ali Jannati, the culture minister, likening the restrictions to the ban on fax machines, video recorders, and videotapes after the 1979 revolution."Iran's internet politics: Everyone's doing it" , The Economist, 19 July 2014.
In December 2016, Iranian Prosecutor Ahmad Ali Montazeri, who heads Iran's internet censorship committee, banned and closed 14,000 websites and social networking accounts in Iran. He underlined that President Rouhani and Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli agreed with him and have addressed "serious warnings" on this issue."Iran bans 14 thousand websites and accounts weekly" , Al Arabiya, 8 December 2016.
As of 2018, it is estimated that between 64% and 69% of Iranians are internet users.
Blocking in 2017–18 protests
During the 2017–18 Iranian protests, the Iranian government blocked internet access for mobile networks and blocked access to various websites, including Instagram and Telegram for all internet users, in an effort to stymie protests. At some points, the government completely blocked internet access in Kurdish parts of the country.Ailsa Chang, In Response To Protests, Iran Cuts Off Internet Access, Blocks Apps , NPR, Morning Edition (3 January 2018).Laura Smith-Spark, UN experts urge Iran to respect rights of protesters, end Internet crackdown , CNN (5 January 2017). A January 2018 report by four special rapporteurs of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about the blocking, stating, "Communication blackouts constitute a serious violation of fundamental rights".
2019 total Internet shutdown