Iranians refuse to be kept in the dark amid government internet restrictions

While the Iranian government is tightening internet restrictions at a critical moment, many Iranians remain connected – at least those who have managed to access and use a VPN.

Iran has restricted the nation’s access to the internet following Israeli airstrikes. According to Iran Wire, Iran’s prosecutor general even threatened (social) media users with legal actions as some content allegedly "disrupts society's psychological security."

According to telemetry data, internet access remains restricted.

⚠️ Confirmed: Analysis of telemetry shows a significant reduction in internet traffic in #Iran; the incident comes amid an escalating conflict with Israel and is likely to limit the public's ability to access information at a critical time 📉 pic.twitter.com/WOqfHTdxc0

undefined NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 17, 2025

Since then, interest in VPNs for Iran has spiked. According to Google Trends, it is now the 5th most popular search topic, with VPN-related searches soaring over 250% over the last 30 days.

As is often the case during armed conflicts, social unrest, or protests, regimes and less democratic countries tend to block Western media sites such as Facebook, X, YouTube, Telegram, and others in an attempt to limit citizens’ ability to communicate, share information, and organize.

For that reason, people in Iran are seeking VPNs to circumvent the restrictions and continue using Western social media applications. Journalists and activists are also recommended to use a VPN for secure and private communications.

Top10VPN, a VPN review site that tracks internet restrictions worldwide, said that demand for VPNs in Iran has surged “dramatically” since last Friday. “Dramatically” means the demand is approximately 700% above the baseline.

“Many Iranians, despite VPNs being officially banned, are turning to these tools to stay connected to global news, communication platforms, and uncensored digital content as they navigate the current upheavals affecting the nation,” the website said.

The escalation of the conflict is sending ripples through the world. Cybersecurity experts are now closely watching the cyber realm, as they expect more cyberattacks and other hacktivism attempts to target the conflicting parties and their allies alike.