US lawmakers push for VPN funding so Iranians can access internet

US agencies are struggling to find the best method to fund additional software for millions of Iranian civilians to get around their government’s strict internet censors, amid a surge in demand over weeks of domestic unrest.

The State Department, US senators from both parties, and other US agencies have advocated for funding virtual private networks and anticensorship technology programmes that would allow about a quarter of the people in Iran to access the internet without the Islamic Republic’s restrictions.

But the offices involved cannot seem to agree on the best way to get US$10 million to the Open Technology Fund, which finances programmes to circumvent online censorship worldwide and has seen demand for VPNs in Iran rise to 25 million from the 7.5 million that it’s resourced to support.

Without a resolution, some Iranians may not be able to safely get online in the coming weeks.

“We need these funds yesterday,” said Laura Cunningham, president of the Open Technology Fund. “If we don’t have these resources immediately, we will be forced to make difficult decisions about cutting off millions of VPN users in Iran as soon as next week.”

Since 2022, OTF has been receiving State Department funds consistently through the same mechanism, with State providing money to the US Agency for Global Media, which in turn gives it to OTF, Cunningham said. The process typically takes one or two weeks.