The internet speed has significantly decreased.
Simultaneously with the expansion of merchants’ protests and economic dissatisfaction, the internet speed in Iran has noticeably decreased and disruptions have increased, to the extent that many VPNs and proxies, including Psiphon, are not functioning properly or are effectively out of reach due to severe speed drops.
According to the Etemad newspaper and based on data published on Zoomit, since Thursday, December 31, alongside the reduced performance of proxies, a significant drop in the country’s internet traffic has been recorded, which at certain hours has decreased by up to 35% compared to the previous week.
Cloudflare data shows that incoming traffic to this company’s servers has also decreased by up to 22% at certain times, a fact that, given the dependency of many websites and VPNs on Cloudflare’s infrastructure, strengthens the speculation about targeted and indirect disruptions.
Reports indicate that internet disruptions have been applied unevenly and regionally, with provinces such as Hamedan, Lorestan, Tehran, Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, Khuzestan, and several others experiencing a severe decline in internet quality.
Simultaneously with this situation, 51 members of parliament, in a warning to the President and several ministers, including the Minister of Communications, have called for increased oversight of international messaging platforms.
Seyed Sattar Hashemi, the Minister of Communications, referring to concerns about people’s livelihoods and damage to businesses, stated that decisions regarding the complete or permanent shutdown or restriction of the internet are not absolute and are made with security, livelihood, and citizen safety considerations.
Economic and technology experts, including Afshin Kalahi and Seyedeh Mahkameh Sharifzadeh, have emphasized that these disruptions are the result of high-level decisions, have removed predictability from the digital economy, harmed businesses and investments, and created widespread uncertainty.
According to these experts, the reduction in internet quality is not limited to slower access but also severely disrupts online payments, digital services authentication, and user security, with the direct pressure falling on the people and economic actors.