Elon Musk's role in aiding Iranian protesters

Elon Musk’s satellite-based internet service Starlink, operated by SpaceX, has emerged as one of the few remaining ways for people inside Iran to access the internet as authorities enforce a sweeping communications blackout amid widespread anti-government protests. Since the government cut off access on January 8, Iranians have increasingly relied on proxy tools and Starlink’s constellation of low-orbit satellites to get online and share information about the protests with the outside world.

Starlink does not hold a license to operate in Iran. However, thousands of its terminals have been smuggled into the country since 2022, when then-US President Joe Biden authorized American technology companies to bypass sanctions and provide Iranians with communication tools, as an article by Al Jazeera recalls. That decision coincided with mass protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

While neither Starlink nor Musk has publicly confirmed that the service is being provided free of charge in Iran, a person familiar with Starlink operations confirmed this arrangement to Bloomberg. More recently, US President Donald Trump told reporters on January 11 that he wanted Starlink to restore internet access in Iran and said he would discuss the issue directly with Musk.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, a group with members inside and outside the country, told Al Jazeera that access to Starlink has been crucial for documenting and disseminating information about the protests, including estimates of the death toll.

“It has been extremely important because the alternative would have been no information,” Amiry-Moghaddam said.

Iran’s tainted history of blackouts

Iran has imposed at least 17 internet shutdowns since 2018, according to the Internet Society, a digital rights nonprofit, though the severity of these disruptions has varied. Past blackouts have often coincided with periods of unrest, including the 2019 protests over fuel prices and the 2022 demonstrations following Amini’s death. Iran also briefly restricted internet access in June during a 12-day war with Israel and the United States.

Amiry-Moghaddam said the current shutdown is more extensive than previous ones, both in geographic reach and in its restrictions on international phone connectivity.

“In 2019, there was a real blackout. In 2022, there were some areas, for some hours, and it was moving. But it has never been the whole country the way it is now and for so many days. It has never been that extensive,” he said.

In a notable departure from past practice, Iranian authorities have also attempted to jam Starlink signals and seize satellite terminals.

“In previous incidents, none of the internet shutdowns were as severe as this one,” Amir Rashidi, director of internet security and digital rights at the nonprofit Miaan Group, told Al Jazeera. “We never saw Iran trying to jam Starlink. That was not the case at all. Now they’re doing it.”

Iranian state media published a video on Telegram on January 13 showing confiscated Starlink terminals and other telecommunications equipment still in their original packaging, labeling them “electronic espionage and sabotage items.” According to the post, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence said the equipment was intended for distribution in areas experiencing unrest.

Starlink has previously offered free broadband service in countries affected by conflict, including Ukraine and Venezuela, and has also provided a month of free service to users impacted by natural disasters such as Hurricane Melissa and the Canadian wildfires of 2025.

However, critics say that the decision by Musk to operate in Iran without a licence has raised questions about the power that major corporations hold to violate the sovereignty of nations and interfere. 

By Nazrin Sadigova