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   "Not just censorship, its digital isolation:" Iran plans to cut ties with the   
   global internet  and VPNs may not help this time   
      
   Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:11:34 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   After enforcing "one of the most severe blackouts in history," Iran is moving   
   towards a permanent whitelisting system to better police the internet. Here's   
   what is at stake for people in Iran, and beyond.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Twenty days: that's how long Iran has been disconnected from the global   
   internet in what experts describe as "one of the most severe blackouts in   
   history."    
      
   Authorities imposed a near-total communication blackout on January 8 in   
   response to mass anti-government protests, cutting off fixed-line internet,   
   mobile data, and international voice calls.    
      
   Even domestic communication services and Starlink connections were severely   
   disrupted. While it's impossible to know the correct number due to the harsh   
   internet shutdown, up to 30,000 protesters are thought to have been killed   
   during the demonstrations, according to the latest estimation .    
      
   Yet, this was merely the beginning of a new internet in Iran. Connectivity is   
   now slowly being restored , but the government has reportedly begun enforcing   
   a whitelisting system to police who can access what.    
      
   This means most of the 90 million Iranians will be able to access only a    
   small list of approved websites, while security-vetted elites may be granted   
   wider access.    
      
   "Its not just censorship, its digital isolation. This will hurt everyday    
   life, jobs, learning, even talking to family abroad. It also makes it harder   
   to share news or organize protests," Azam Jangravi, Lead Security at    
   OpenText, told TechRadar, describing the move as "locking the internet behind   
   a wall and handing out a few keys."   
      
   How to build a "Barracks internet"   
      
   Texas-based Iranian digital rights group, Filterwatch, was the first to   
   disclose more details on the government plan to transform the countrys   
   internet infrastructure into what they deem a "Barracks Internet."    
      
   Referring to "exclusive intelligence obtained by Filterwatch," experts    
   explain that authorities have tasked Iranian security contractors, Yaftar and   
   Doran Group, with deploying the Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) updates needed    
   to make this happen.    
      
   According to Filterwatch, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani not only   
   confirmed that international internet access won't be reopened until March   
   2026, but " [it] will never return to its previous form."    
      
   It seems, however, that enforcing Iran's new whitelisting filtering model was   
   the plan since the beginning.    
      
   In his technical evaluation , Doug Madory, the Director of Internet Analysis   
   at Kentik, found that during the shutdown, authorities disrupted only IPv6   
   traffic, leaving IPv4 routes online.    
      
   "This distinction is central to Irans next step: internet whitelisting, notes   
   Madory. "By keeping IPv4 routes in circulation, Iranian authorities can   
   selectively grant full internet access to specific users while denying it to   
   the broader population."    
      
   On Tuesday (January 27), while recording a partial restoration of   
   connectivity, Madory noted that traffic looked "very jagged" as a "new    
   traffic filtering system has been installed and can't keep up." This could   
   indicate a further development in Iran's whitelisting system.   
      
   Using a VPN in Iran? Increasingly harder, if not imposssible   
      
   According to experts at internet watchdog IODA , Iran's first attempt at    
   using whitelisting filter technologies via its National Information Network   
   (NIN) occurred during government-imposed internet restrictions in June  the   
   same time as the Twelve-Day war with Israel.    
      
   On that occasion, however, Iranians managed to use VPNs to evade blocks. This   
   may soon not be the case.    
      
   According to Filterwatch data, the recent DPI updates are specifically   
   designed "to fingerprint and flag VPN traffic" as well as the traffic routing   
   via Starlink.    
      
   Talking to TechRadar, Jangravi from OpenText confirmed that, while tools like   
   virtual private networks (VPNs) and Tor Browser still help currently, they    
   are increasingly becoming harder to use. "The government blocks or slows them   
   down fast. People have to keep switching tools just to stay connected," she   
   said.    
      
   That's because, Jangravi explained, whitelisting makes VPN blocking much   
   easier.    
      
   "Authorities can block all unknown traffic and only allow approved protocols.   
   So VPNs, Tor, and even new tools get spotted and shut down faster. Its a   
   constant race."    
      
   Mazay Banzaev, the Founder of Russia-based Amnezia VPN  a software that's   
   specifically designed to work in strict censorship environments  also expects   
   VPNs to become largely unavailable, simply because there will be nowhere for    
   a tunnel to connect to.    
      
   "Only VPN tunnels that are pre-approved by state authorities will continue to   
   function."    
      
    Surfshark and Proton VPN share a similar view, with the former deeming the   
   move "a clear and brutal infringement of human rights."    
      
   "If there is no internet, then there's virtually nothing that a VPN can do,"   
   David Peterson, General Manager for Proton VPN, also told TechRadar, adding   
   that "Proton will work alongside people affected by such measures to help    
   them reach the outside world whenever gaps or opportunities arise."   
      
   Beyond Iran   
      
   North Korea has been, for a long time, the best-known country to enforce a   
   near-total control of the internet with whitelisting technology. Now, Iran is   
   catching up -- but it isn't the only one.   
      
   From a blacklist-focused regime, Russia is also reportedly turning towards a   
   whitelist regime in a bid to make the fences around its national Runet even   
   stronger.    
      
   Asked about how the systems in Iran and Russia may differ, Madory from Kentik   
   told Techradar that, while he doesn't know much about the technical details    
   of the Russian model, he expects these mechanisms to be very similar.    
      
   "The objective would be to block everything (including VPNs) and only allow a   
   narrowly defined set of traffic," Madory told Techradar. "I'm concerned that   
   this practice may become a trend."    
      
   After all, we do know that authoritarian countries have been exchanging their   
   knowledge on how to censor the open web for years.    
      
   We have previously reported how China is helping Pakistan to build a Great   
   Firewall-like internet censorship system. A September leak then showed that   
   China exported its Great Firewall system , one of the most comprehensive   
   censorship systems available, to Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Kazakhstan.    
      
   From a technical point of view, authoritarian nations seem now to be on a   
   similar level. Yet, according to Banzaev from AmneziaVPN, the tech is only   
   part of the story.    
      
   "The difference lies in how far authorities are willing to go to isolate   
   themselves from the global internet."    
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/not-just-censorship-its-dig   
   ital-isolation-iran-plans-to-cut-ties-with-the-global-internet-and-vpns-may-no   
   t-help-this-time   
      
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