TEHRAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES, MINES AND AGRICULTURE

The digital divide, a persistent global issue, highlights inequalities in access to information, digital tools, and infrastructure . The divide is particularly acute in developing countries, where digital exclusion limits economic opportunities, social mobility, and daily life . Unlike traditional barriers to education, the digital divide represents a systemic issue affecting meaningful connectivity and participation in the digital ecosystem .

Ilia Vakili, Digital Rights Activist: At the 19th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2024)[1], global leaders, experts, and stakeholders spotlighted the pressing need to safeguard human rights in the digital age, reaffirming that online freedoms must reflect offline rights. Central to the forum was the critical issue of bridging the digital divide, with concrete calls for inclusive policies, community-driven solutions, and technological innovation to ensure meaningful connectivity for all. However, as underscored in IGF 2024 discussions, the situation in countries like Iran reveals a more complex reality: the digital divide is not merely a result of local challenges but is amplified by international sanctions. These sanctions systematically restrict access to global technologies, obstruct infrastructure development, and deepen inequities, directly undermining the principles of universal inclusion that IGF seeks to advance. The Iranian case stands as a stark example of how geopolitical barriers complicate the global commitment to a fair and equitable digital future.

The Role of Sanctions in Widening the Digital Divide

Iran, long categorized as a peripheral economy, faces significant barriers to equitable development[2]. International sanctions targeting its technological sector amplify these challenges, creating systemic inequalities that limit access to digital resources[3]. Sanctions restrict Iran's participation in the global economy, hinder innovation, and obstruct its technological infrastructure, reinforcing the marginalization of its citizens.

While domestic policies such as Internet censorship contribute to Iran’s technological isolation, international sanctions play a pivotal role in worsening this divide. Together, these forces deny Iranians access to the tools and knowledge needed to progress in the digital age. Iranian activists have persistently campaigned against these restrictions, but their efforts face persistent obstacles due to the dual burden of international sanctions and domestic limitations.

Impact of Technological Sanctions

Sanctions against Iran manifest in several ways, each contributing to the country’s digital exclusion:

Infrastructure Constraints: Sanctions directly target Iran's Internet infrastructure, restricting access to critical equipment and technologies needed for modernization. For example[4], international suppliers are prohibited from providing network equipment in Iran, causing infrastructure expansion to become complex and unprofitable as has happened to Iran’s Telecommunication Infrastructure Company[5] (TIC). These restrictions degrade Internet quality and affordability, limiting connectivity for millions of citizens.

Barriers to Educational Resources: Sanctions also block access to online platforms essential for education and skill development[6]. Several innovation ecosystem activists and Iranian citizens campaigned and condemned the behavior against freedom of access to information made by companies in a petition. The list included the names of companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, HP, OpenAI, Oracle, AMD, Intel, Nvidia, Cisco, Adobe, Figma, Sygic, and Udemy.

This behavior does not comply with the US federal order of May 2024, which enacts the D-2[7] General License into law.

These extensive sanctions have created numerous problems for the Iranian people. The signatories of the campaign above condemned the following technology embargoes:

● Restrictions on user access and geo-blocking Iranian IPs to public and international services, particularly cloud services

● Restrictions on purchasing internet services and connecting Iranian companies to international IXP networks

● Sanctions against Iranian infrastructure companies

● The removal of Iran as a nationality option in registration forms makes it impossible to register with Iranian phone numbers (+98).

The table below, extracted from the campaign, shows the most important skill and educational domain that Iranians were banned from accessing:

#	name	URL	#	name	URL
1	Android Developers	https://developer.android.com	101	Cisco	https://www.cisco.com
2	Visual Studio Installer	https://visualstudio.microsoft.com	102	Rstudio	https://www.rstudio.com
3	Chat GPT	https://www.chat.openai.com	103	SketchFab	https://sketchfab.com
4	Coursera	https://www.coursera.org	104	Mongodb	https://www.mongodb.com
5	Google cloud	https://cloud.google.com	105	TeamTreeHouse	https://teamtreehouse.com
6	Google Developers	https://developers.google.com	106	HashiCorp	https://www.hashicorp.com
7	Firebase	https://firebase.google.com	107	Asus Rog	https://www.asus.com
8	Spotify DE	https://www.spotify.com	108	MixPanel	https://mixpanel.com
9	CentOS Repositories	https://mirror.centos.org	109	Paessler	https://www.paessler.com/
10	BootStrap	https://www.bootstrapcdn.com	110	Renesas	https://www.renesas.com
11	CodeCanyon	https://codecanyon.net	111	MSC Software	https://mscsoftware.com
12	Elsevier	https://www.elsevier.com	112	SourceForge	https://www.sourceforge.net
13	Google Lens	https://lens.google	113	tinyjpg	https://tinyjpg.com
14	Envato	https://www.envato.com	114	3d Ocean	https://3docean.net
15	CloudEra	https://www.cloudera.com	115	Amd Radeon	https://www.amd.com
16	GtMetrix	https://gtmetrix.com	116	RedHat	https://www.redhat.com/en
17	Openai	https://www.openai.com	117	Trello	https://www.trello.com
18	Google Analytics	https://analytics.google.com	118	Flurry	https://flurry.com
19	JetBrains	https://www.jetbrains.com	119	Themeforest	https://www.themeforest.net
20	Googleplay console	https://play.google.com/console/developer	120	MailGun	https://www.mailgun.com
21	Figma	https://www.figma.com	121	ResellerClub	https://www.resellerclub.com
22	Clamav	https://www.clamav.net	122	Lenovo	https://www.lenovo.com
23	Google Earth	https://earth.google.com	123	Amazon Prime	https://www.amazon.com
24	Bytes	https://bytes.com	124	Twilio	https://www.twilio.com
25	Cadence	https://www.cadence.com	125	Training Sap	https://training.sap.com/
26	Docker	https://www.docker.com	126	Dribbble	https://www.dribbble.com
27	BugSnag	https://www.bugsnag.com	127	VideoHive	https://videohive.net
28	Nvidia experience	https://www.nvidia.com	128	NuGet	https://www.nuget.org
29	Microsoft Download	https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download	129	Slack	https://api.slack.com
30	MathWorks	https://www.mathworks.com	130	invisionapp	https://www.invisionapp.com
31	Google Research	https://www.research.google.com	131	Ti	https://ti.com
32	Adobe	https://adobe.com	132	NewRelic	https://newrelic.com
33	Android Studio	https://developer.android.com/studio	133	Turbo squid	https://www.turbosquid.com
34	ItPro	https://www.itpro.tv	134	Webex	https://www.webex.com
35	HuggingFace	https://huggingface.co	135	Mcafee	https://www.mcafee.com
36	MaxCDN	https://cp.maxcdn.com	136	simplilearn	https://www.simplilearn.com
37	Unity	https://unity.com	137	IIS app platform	https://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/platform.aspx
38	StudyTogether	https://www.studytogether.com	138	Instructure	https://www.instructure.com
39	Freepik	https://www.freepik.com	139	Sygic	https://www.sygic.com
40	MySQL	https://www.mysql.com	140	Spring	https://spring.io
41	MyFonts	https://www.myfonts.com	141	Analog	https://analog.com
42	Qualcomm	https://www.qualcomm.com	142	GFI	https://www.gfi.com
43	Zoom	https://zoom.us	143	Ansible	https://www.ansible.com
44	Artstation	https://www.artstation.com	144	Sketch	https://sketch.com
45	Udemy	https://www.udemy.com	145	IDT DNA	https://www.idtdna.com
46	Google services	https://code.earthengine.google.com	146	SendGrid	https://sendgrid.com
47	Kaggle	https://www.kaggle.com	147	seleniumhq	https://www.selenium.dev
48	Pearson	https://www.pearson.com	148	salesforce	https://www.salesforce.com
49	Google Remote Desktop	https://www.remotedesktop.google.com	149	Sartorius	https://www.sartorius.com
50	Ubuntu	https://ubuntu.com	150	Jquery Code	https://www.jquery.com
51	Gitlab	https://about.gitlab.com	151	Weebly	https://www.weebly.com
52	InfoWorld	https://www.infoworld.com	152	IBM	https://www.ibm.com
53	Apple developer	https://developer.apple.com	153	SigmaAldrich	https://www.sigmaaldrich.com
54	Unreal Engine	https://www.unrealengine.com	154	Pixel Squid	https://www.pixelsquid.com
55	Google Code	https://code.google.com	155	PackAgist	https://packagist.org
56	GoDoc	https://godoc.org	156	Mbed	https://os.mbed.com
57	unsplash	https://unsplash.com	157	Data Camp	https://www.datacamp.com
58	Elastic	https://www.elastic.co	158	OverLeaf	https://www.overleaf.com
59	Expo	https://expo.dev	159	ATI Radeon	https://ati.com
60	Ebay	https://www.ebay.com	160	AcousticJava	https://acousticjava.com
61	JitPack	https://jitpack.io	161	Voicemod	https://www.voicemod.net
62	KhanAcademy	https://www.khanacademy.org	162	Arcgis Online	https://www.arcgis.com/home
63	Krisp.ai	https://krisp.ai	163	Stripe	https://stripe.com
64	Codeium	https://www.codeium.com	164	Toggl	https://toggl.com
65	GraphicRiver	https://graphicriver.net	165	Sophos	https://sophos.com
66	GoAnimate	https://goanimate.com	166	Apache	https://apache.org
67	Google tag manager	https://tagmanager.google.com	167	Videvo	https://www.videvo.net
68	Simple Note	https://simplenote.com	168	Atlassian	https://www.atlassian.com
69	Realm	https://realm.io	169	Parsec	https://parsec.app
70	Grafana	https://grafana.com	170	Vuforia	https://developer.vuforia.com
71	Melpa	https://melpa.org	171	Audio Jungle	https://audiojungle.net
72	Gradle	https://gradle.org	172	GCD API	https://cloud.google.com/api/datastorage
73	SpiceWorks	https://www.spiceworks.com	173	Schema	https://www.schema.org
74	MouseFlow	https://mouseflow.com	174	burst shopify	https://burst.shopify.com
75	Api Codeium	https://www.api.codeium.com	175	foodiesfeed	https://www.foodiesfeed.com
76	Virtual Box	https://www.virtualbox.org	176	Veritas	https://www.veritas.com
77	Remini	https://www.remini.ai	177	ThermoFisher	https://www.thermofisher.com
78	PhpStorm	https://www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm	178	Vagrantup	https://www.vagrantup.com
79	Tensorflow	https://www.tensorflow.org	179	Bintray	https://bintray.com
80	Maven	https://maven.apache.org	180	Merck millipore	https://www.merckmillipore.com
81	inshot	https://inshot.cc	181	Rjx hobby	https://www.rjxhobby.com
82	TeamViewer	https://www.teamviewer.com	182	Epidemic Sound	https://www.epidemicsound.com
83	PhotoDune	https://photodune.net	183	SyncFusion	https://www.syncfusion.com
84	MatLabExpo	https://www.matlabexpo.com	184	MAAS	https://maas.io
85	GrAvatar	https://gravatar.com	185	BMC	https://bmc.com
86	DemandBase	https://www.demandbase.com	186	BackTory	https://backtory.com
87	Java	https://www.java.com	187	Warkiani Lab	https://www.warkianilab.com
88	NXP	https://www.nxp.com	188	artgrid	https://artgrid.io
89	Tenable	https://www.tenable.com	189	artlist	https://artlist.io
90	Flaticon	https://www.flaticon.com	190	analytics.moz	https://analytics.moz.com
91	Oracle	https://www.oracle.com	191	miro	https://miro.com
92	HP	https://www.hp.com/us-en/home.html	192	openhub	https://www.openhub.net
93	NetBeans	https://netbeans.apache.org	193	Pagespeed	https://pagespeed.web.dev
94	GrabCad	https://grabcad.com	194	redis	https://redis.io
95	Asus	https://www.asus.com/us	195	wandb	https://wandb.ai
96	GSK	https://www.gsk.com	196	Click House	https://clickhouse.com
97	PerKins	https://www.perkins.com	197	opensea	https://www.opensea.io
98	Intel	https://www.intel.com	198	tutsplus	https://tutsplus.com
99	Vmware	https://www.vmware.com	199	teachable	https://www.teachable.com/
100	SolarWinds	https://www.solarwinds.com	200	plotly	https://plotly.com

Table Source: Iran’s Internet Quality Report 2023

Iranians face difficulties registering for global services, accessing cloud tools, and participating in international Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). For instance, Code.org[1] in Farsi—a collaborative platform for translating coding resources into Persian for children—was blocked due to Google Cloud’s policies for a long time. Advocacy efforts restored access in this case, but such restrictions create persisting discrimination against Iranian citizens.

Economic and Cultural Exclusion (Case Study on ArvanCloud): Technological sanctions isolate Iran’s digital economy from global markets, inflating costs and limiting innovation. This exclusion harms cultural diversity online, reducing the visibility of Persian and other regional languages. These barriers hinder the Iranian’s ability to contribute to global digital progress, thus contributing to their marginalization. The sanctioning of Iranian cloud provider ArvanCloud illustrates how international restrictions undermine digital equity. Offering services comparable to AWS, ArvanCloud aimed to enhance the Internet experience for businesses and individuals. However, sanctions have harmed its operations, contradicting U.S. policies like "General License D-2,"[2] which claim to support digital freedom for Iranians. These sanctions discourage foreign companies from engaging with Iranian users, further isolating the country[3].

Consequences for Digital Well-being: Iran’s digital well-being is critically low, as highlighted by international benchmarks. The Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index, a comprehensive annual evaluation by Surfshark, ranks Iran 95th out of 123 countries. This index evaluates key dimensions such as Internet affordability, quality, e-infrastructure, e-government, and online security. Iran lags behind countries with comparable economic challenges, such as Pakistan and Nepal, despite its relative advantages in natural resources and human capital.

Country	Region	Subregion	DQL rank	DQLI	Internet affordability (weighted)	Internet quality (weighted)	E-infrastructure (weighted)	E-security (weighted)	E-government (weighted)
France	Europe	Western Europe	1	0.7902	0.1295	0.1135	0.1821	0.189	0.1761
Finland	Europe	Northern Europe	2	0.7483	0.0862	0.0917	0.1911	0.1904	0.1888
Denmark	Europe	Northern Europe	3	0.7377	0.0533	0.115	0.1952	0.189	0.1852
Germany	Europe	Western Europe	4	0.7357	0.1016	0.0856	0.1888	0.1959	0.1638
Luxembourg	Europe	Western Europe	5	0.7357	0.1258	0.0888	0.1888	0.1699	0.1624
…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…	…
Nigeria	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	88	0.3762	0.0099	0.072	0.1187	0.0775	0.0981
Mongolia	Asia	Eastern Asia	89	0.3632	0.0211	0.0535	0.1434	0.0392	0.106
Trinidad and Tobago	North America	Latin America and the Caribbean	90	0.3603	0.0072	0.0726	0.1337	0.0556	0.0911
Jamaica	North America	Latin America and the Caribbean	91	0.3572	0.0074	0.0671	0.1265	0.0638	0.0924
Iran	Asia	Southern Asia	95	0.3397	0.0272	0.0543	0.1484	0.0151	0.0948
Ghana	Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	96	0.3397	0.0122	0.0641	0.0943	0.0729	0.0963
Laos	Asia	South-eastern Asia	97	0.3355	0.0571	0.0656	0.1066	0.0392	0.0671

Table Source: Digital Quality of Life 2023

Iran’s Internet affordability has worsened over the years due to sanctions and domestic economic instability. For example, while Internet prices in Iran appear low in local currency, the rial's depreciation has drastically reduced citizens’ purchasing power. Surfshark’s affordability measure shows that Iranian citizens need to work significantly longer hours to afford Internet services compared to residents of top-ranking countries like Denmark or Finland.

Internet Quality: The quality of Internet services in Iran suffers due to outdated infrastructure, frequent disruptions, and limited international bandwidth. Reports from the Tehran E-Commerce Association highlight that Internet speeds in Iran are significantly lower than the global average, with frequent outages further debilitating access.

#	GDP-Rank	Country	AVG 4G	Total Domain	Disrupted-%	Censored-%	Rank	Censored-Rank	Total (Avg)
100	93	Turkmenistan	32%	1	-	-	100	-	100
99	26	Cuba	48%	8	-	-	97	-	97
98	42	Iran	60%	100	10%	38%	91	99	95
97	2	China	69%	100	9%	51%	89	100	95
96	76	Tanzania	59%	100	9%	2%	94	85	90
95	87	Myanmar	79%	99	14%	16%	85	98	92
94	43	Pakistan	73%	100	4%	7%	87	94	91
93	96	Cameroon	43%	100	4%	2%	99	85	92
92	17	Saudi Arabia	84%	100	3%	6%	80	93	87
91	31	Venezuela, RB	86%	100	4%	2%	74	85	80
90	32	Nigeria	60%	100	4%	1%	91	77	84

Table Source: Iran's Internet Quality Report 2024

This poor quality is directly linked to the inability to procure modern equipment due to sanctions along with domestic censorship, which prevent critical infrastructure upgrades like the expansion of fiber optic networks.

Image source: Spatiotemporal investigation of the digital divide, the case study of Iranian Provinces 2022

The images from a research study above show Iran's pre-existing digital divide. External sanctions amplify this internal inequality, further deepening the developmental disparities between regions within the country.

E-Infrastructure and E-Government: Iran’s e-infrastructure and e-government services remain underdeveloped compared to global standards. The inability to access global cloud platforms and modern tools has hindered the growth of these sectors. For example, the absence of reliable e-government services reduces citizens' ability to access public services efficiently, widening the gap between Iran and more digitally advanced nations. Sanctions have also undermined digital literacy efforts. Restricted access to platforms for online learning, professional development, and global collaboration limits opportunities for individuals to acquire the skills necessary to participate in the digital economy. This exclusion is especially harmful to Iran’s youth, who represent a significant portion of the population and are eager to engage with the global digital ecosystem.

In contrast to countries like China—facing similar levels of domestic restrictions but with greater economic capacity—Iran fares significantly worse. While China has invested heavily in its domestic Internet infrastructure to mitigate restrictions, Iran has struggled to make comparable progress. This divergence illustrates the compounded effect of sanctions on Iran’s Internet quality and affordability.

The Paradox of Human Capital

Based on The Global Cloud Ecosystem 2022 Iran's talented workforce ranks among the best globally in innovation and mathematics, yet systemic barriers prevent their skills from being fully utilized domestically. Many Iranians contribute to technological advancements abroad while their country lags in infrastructure and policy alignment. This brain drain underscores the paradox of sanctions: while Iranian talent enriches the global economy, the country itself remains excluded from technological progress.

Table source: The Global Cloud Ecosystem 2022

Conclusion

Sanctions on infrastructures may target governments, but they suffocate citizens, severing access to innovation, education, and opportunity. In Iran, these restrictions have turned a nation of potential into one stranded in the digital wilderness, reinforcing walls of inequality.

To bridge this divide, the global community must abandon exclusionary policies and embrace bold, collective action. Access to digital tools and networks isn’t a privilege—it’s a human right. By transforming sanctions into pathways for inclusion, we can reshape the digital landscape into one where connection is favored over isolation so every voice can thrive. Even the country’s role as a supplier of basic resources is not fully acknowledged due to technological sanctions. This process undermines the UN’s claim to ensure a fair cycle of resources and prevent the exclusion of countries from the global economic system, which ultimately harms the entire global economic ecosystem.

It can be concluded that the digital divide caused by sanctions prevents Iranian citizens and businesses from accessing global economic resources on an equal footing. Iranians face international inequality compared to citizens of developed nations, especially in accessing basic educational tools or participating in technological competitions. This contradicts the international principles of freedom and equal opportunity promoted by organizations such as UNESCO. Notably, these are the same principles shaping the Internet Society’s slogan[1] to keep the Internet a force for good: open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy.

^[1] https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2022/03/what-is-the-digital-divide/

^[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X06000167

^[3] https://learningbeyondboundaries.ai/scenarios/digital-divide-teachers/

^[4] https://intgovforum.org/en/content/igf-2024-themes

^[5]https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/new-world-bank-group-country-classifications-income-level-fy24

^[6] Dependency Theory

^[7] https://digitalmedusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SanctionsandtheInternet-DigitalMedusa-1.pdf

^[8]https://digiato.com/iran-technology-news/report-financial-telecommunication-infrastructure-company-140

^[9] https://www.karzar.net/iran-tech-sanctions

^[10] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0974

^[11] https://digiato.com/iran-technology-news/codeinfarsi-org-sanctions-iranian-users

^[12] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0974

^[13] 560.540 (c), Transfers of funds from Iran or for or on behalf of a person in Iran in furtherance of an underlying transaction authorized by paragraph (a) of this section may be processed by U.S. depository institutions and U.S. Registered brokers or dealers in securities provided they are consistent with 560.516.

^[14] https://www.internetsociety.org/about-internet-society/

Digital Exclusion: How Sanctions Act as a Major Force in Iran's Digital Divide

The Role of Sanctions in Widening the Digital Divide

Impact of Technological Sanctions

This behavior does not comply with the US federal order of May 2024, which enacts the D-2[7] General License into law.

The Paradox of Human Capital

Conclusion