- Millions of Iranians could lose access to US-backed VPN services
- The Open Technology Fund (OTF) said the demand for VPNs increased from 7.5 million to 25 million.
- The OTF needs $10 million in funds, but U.S. agencies are slow to approve it.
Millions of Iranians could lose access to vital VPN services “as early as next week” as US agencies struggle to secure funding for an internet freedom advocacy group tasked with supporting surging demand in the country.
The warning comes from the Open Technology Fund (OTF). Its president, Laura Cunningham, told Bloomberg that the team “will be forced to make tough decisions” if U.S. officials cannot provide the $10 million needed to accommodate a massive surge in users. Demand for censorship circumvention technologies in the region has recently skyrocketed, from 7.5 million to 25 million users.
The Iranian government imposed a near-total communications blackout on January 8 in response to massive anti-government protests, cutting landline internet, mobile data and international voice calls.
Although connectivity has been slowly restored since late January, the latest data shows that internet traffic remains severely restricted. VPN services and other evasion tools currently represent the only way for Iranians to bypass state censorship and access the global Internet.
OTF and VPN financing – what we know
The OTF is a US-based non-profit organization that provides vital resources for anti-censorship technologies. Its work supports a range of privacy-focused tools, including VPNs, Tor Browser, and Psiphon, while funding researchers who promote digital rights and internet freedom globally.
The group is primarily funded by the US government through the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). According to its website, these resources are dedicated to supporting programs that “promote internet freedom globally,” often serving as a financial lifeline for open source tools that would otherwise struggle to scale in times of crisis.
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Iran has reportedly begun implementing a permanent “whitelist” system to tighten its control over the Internet. Experts warn that such a system – which only allows pre-approved traffic – could make using standard VPN services much more difficult, if not impossible.
Cunningham explains that the typical funding mechanism involves the State Department providing money to USAGM, which then allocates it to OTF. This process usually takes no more than a few weeks.
However, internal conflicts caused a major bottleneck. According to letters seen by Bloomberg, USAGM, the U.S. State Department and several U.S. senators currently cannot agree on a viable path to authorizing the $10 million needed.
In a letter dated February 5, Kari Lake, deputy CEO of USAGM, suggested that formal approval of funding “would take months.” Lake recommended that OTF instead use its existing budget to cover increased demand from Iran.
The proposal was met with reluctance by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and James Lankford, who argued that redirecting existing funds would jeopardize vital programs in China, Cuba and Russia.
OTF Board Chairman Zack Cooper also criticized the delay, telling Bloomberg that if USAGM wanted OTF to have these additional resources, the funding would have already been authorized.
These financial hurdles follow a series of budget cuts and staff reductions at USAGM initiated by the Trump administration throughout 2025 and early 2026.
We have contacted the OTF for further comment.
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