Big Tech could help Iranian protesters by using an old tool

These solutions aren't enough. The internet will likely need several thousand more satellites to be restored. Iran's telecommunications providers are preventing some SMS validation codes from being delivered, according to Signal. When a single PureVPN grows too popular, Iran shuts it down.

Nima Fatemi is the head of global cybersecurity nonprofit Kandoo. They are being promoted on social media networks that are not allowed in Iran. He said it felt half-baked and half-assed.

According to some pro-democracy activists and experts, there is more Big Tech can do. Even though it was something several major service providers offered, it has received little attention.

A human rights organization focused on freedom of expression and information says domain fronting is one thing people don't discuss. It is a technique that has been used for a long time to skirt internet restrictions that make it difficult for Iranians to communicate safely. In essence, domain fronting allows apps to disguise traffic directed towards them; for example, when someone types a site into a web browser, this technique steps into that bit of browser-to-site communication and can scramble what the computer sees on the back end to disguise the end site'

Cloud platforms were used for circumvention in the past. Telegram and Signal used the cloud hosting infrastructure of Microsoft, Amazon, and other companies to hide their user traffic from Russia and the rest of the world.

The practice was stopped by both Amazon and Google after the Russian government objected to how it could be used by hackers. Activists working at the intersection of human rights and technology say reinstating the technique is a tool Big Tech could use to quickly get Iranians online.

Alimardani says that a domain fronting is a good place to start. It's not a good look to have stamped out domain fronting and invest in circumvention technology.

Protesters and activists could use domain fronting to stay in touch with each other and to allow them to update worried family and friends during a dangerous period. Elmira, an Iranian woman in her 30s who asked to be identified only by her first name for security reasons, said that they might not return home every time they go out.