Tech mogul and billionaire Elon Musk just made Starlink free in Iran. The catch: using it for anything the regime considers 'anti-state' carries the death penalty.
SpaceX waived all subscription fees for Iranian users on Tuesday after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Musk about internet access for protesters. Previously inactive Starlink accounts became operational at no cost as of 14 January, CNN reported.
'It's plug and connect... just put somewhere that has access to a clear view of the sky, and you're good to go,' Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director at technology nonprofit Holistic Resilience, told CNN.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters that he would personally call Musk and ask him to 'get the internet going' in Iran, referring to Starlink. The move stemmed from the anti-government protests raging across Iran's 31 provinces.
Regime Kills Over 2,500 During Internet Blackout
Iran imposed a near-total internet shutdown on 8 January as anti-government protests spread to all 31 provinces. At least 2,571 protesters have been killed since demonstrations began on 28 December, NPR reported, citing the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
That death toll exceeds any other round of Iranian unrest in decades.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, told Al Jazeera that this blackout is worse than in 2019 or 2022. 'It has never been the whole country the way it is now and for so many days,' he said. Network monitoring firm Cloudflare confirmed Iran 'remains almost entirely cut off from the global internet' as of Saturday.
The regime has deployed jamming equipment to disrupt Starlink signals. State media broadcast footage Tuesday showing seized terminals still in original packaging.
Possession Means Prison, 'Anti-State' Use Means Death
About 50,000 Starlink receivers are believed to be operating inside Iran, according to Mahsa Alimardani, a technology specialist at human rights organisation Witness. They've been smuggled in since 2022, when then-President Joe Biden exempted Starlink from Iran sanctions.
Iranian authorities criminalised Starlink after the country's 12-day war with Israel in June 2025. Simple possession now carries six months to two years in prison. But the Guardian Council went further in October 2025, passing a law that allows execution for Starlink use deemed 'anti-state' or espionage.
'Only Way to Get Information Out'
Starlink has been 'the only way to get the information out' about protesters being killed, Ahmadian told CNN. Amiry-Moghaddam agreed: 'It has been extremely important because the alternative would have been no information.'
Iran is now actively trying to jam the signals using military-grade equipment similar to what Russia deploys against Ukrainian forces. 'We never saw Iran trying to jam Starlink,' Amir Rashidi, director of internet security at the Miaan Group, told Al Jazeera. 'Now they're doing it.'
Venezuela Also Gets Free Service
Iran isn't alone. SpaceX is also providing free Starlink to Venezuela through 3 February following political upheaval there, Bloomberg reported.
Starlink doesn't have a licence to operate in Iran. The International Telecommunication Union ruled in Iran's favour in 2023, declaring Starlink's operations there illegal under international law.
Neither SpaceX nor the White House responded to requests for comment.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
