Young Iranian women take a selfie as they pose in front of a mirror at a cafe in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 12, 2026.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Iran Restores Internet Access, but Users Face Slower Speeds and Greater Risk Steven Ganot 06/28/2026 Iran’s internet is back, but for millions of users, “back” is doing a lot of work. As Omid Habibinia reports, more than 75 million Iranians are still living with throttled, filtered, closely watched online access, even as the Islamic Republic continues peace negotiations with the United States in Switzerland.
The shutdown that began January 8 may have formally eased, but users say the digital world that returned is slower, narrower, and more dangerous than before. Instagram and TikTok remain hard to reach, even with virtual private networks, while VPN use itself has become riskier. A source familiar with Iran’s communications sector says the state has reopened the internet under new controls designed to make access to the global web more “manageable and controllable.” Translation: The cage has Wi-Fi.
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The stakes are not only technical. After an 88-day blackout, one of the longest nationwide shutdowns recorded by outside monitors, restored connectivity allowed videos, testimony, and evidence from the January crackdown to emerge. The same opening also gave security agencies new chances to identify protesters, track those contacting foreign journalists, and punish users who sent images or information abroad.
For ordinary Iranians, the internet has become a tiered privilege. Activist Tara Dachek says intelligence-linked users enjoy broad access, regime officials operate with fewer restrictions, insiders use a form of “white internet,” and most citizens are left with approved apps and heavily monitored platforms. Starlink offers one possible escape route, but access is expensive, risky, and increasingly targeted by raids involving the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, police, and intelligence services.
The human cost is also mounting. Protesters fear another shutdown. Activists face threats. Users posting criticism of the war have received judicial summonses. CITNA, an Iranian information technology news site, reports that 68% of active Instagram users have not returned to the platform since access was restored.
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