Iran has blocked many of the Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that some citizens use to dodge the government's Internet filters, Iranian media reported Sunday.
The Iranian government is still allowing citizens to use a short list of approved VPNs which could potentially be more easily monitored for unwanted behavior. Whether Iranians will actually use the government-approved VPNs remains an open question.
"Within the last few days illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," Ramezanali Sobhani-Fard, the head of parliament's information and communications technology committee, said according to Iranian news agency Mehr and reported by Reuters. "Only legal and registered VPNs can from now on be used."
VPNs can mask a computer's true physical location in the world, making them useful for getting around the geography-based Internet filters used by governments including Iran, China and others. They are also commonly used by privacy-minded users in less controlled societies as well as by content pirates.
Internet users in Iran have been confirming and discussing the VPN block via Twitter:
IR Tyranny started severely limiting Internet services in #Iran. VPN ports are blocked and https is restricted.— Maziar Irani (@Maziari) March 7, 2013
Ok so we use #vpn to access blocked sites. What do we use when vpn's are blocked?— hgolzari (@hgolzari) March 7, 2013
RT @khoshkeledoc @amisiran #Iran Blocked Access To VPN j.mp/Y2wYfx #IranElection— A rose (@9_10) March 10, 2013
The VPN block comes as Iran is preparing for presidential elections in June -- the country's first since 2009. Iran has a history of impeding citizens' Internet access during politically charged periods, particularly after protestors prominently used social media as an organizing tool in 2009 and 2010.
Iran has also been developing a national "intranet" which would allow communication within the country while limiting outside exchanges of information.
Would you use a government-approved and monitored VPN? Share your thoughts in the comments.