Critical Inequalities In Internet Access In Iran Revealed

Iranian internet users who want to visit websites that have been blocked in Iran are automatically redirected to a page with a list of suggestions of the sites that are allowed.
Iranian internet users who want to visit websites that have been blocked in Iran are automatically redirected to a page with a list of suggestions of the sites that are allowed.

The Tehran Electronic Commerce Association has published a detailed report describing the internet quality situation in Iran as "critical."

This 68-page report examines the issues of speed, limitations, and disruptions and reveals that Iran's internet is among the most disrupted and limited in the world, with internet speeds ranking among the five slowest globally. The report places Iran's internet quality as the second most disrupted after Myanmar and the second most limited after China.

The report also highlights data from Cloudflare, ranking Iran 97 out of 100 countries in terms of average internet speed, with only Sudan, Cameroon, and Cuba having slower speeds.

Despite the documented evidence highlighting the unfavorable situation of internet access in Iran, the authorities, including the Minister of Communications, have consistently described the network's quality as adequate and high-speed, downplaying the dismal situation.

It is widely known that regime authorities and the country's elite do not suffer the same poor quality as the masses, not least, those in rural areas. This has been compounded by mass crackdowns on sites and social media platforms as the regime aims to quash dissent.

The report explains that Iran's internet filtering involves three lists: white, gray, and black. Authorized websites are placed on the white list, unauthorized websites on the blacklist, and a significant portion of the domains and IPs, referred to as the gray list, face "intentional" disruptions.

The study reveals that the equipment used by filtering institutions in Iran intentionally disrupts around 50% of the data sent to addresses on the gray list. In other words, any internet traffic not recognized by authorized institutions and not on the whitelist automatically faces disruption.

The association holds various entities, including the Ministry of Communications, the Prosecutor's Office, judicial institutions, the Commission for Determining Criminal Instances, the Supreme National Security Council, and "some security institutions," responsible for the dire state of the internet in Iran.