Nationwide protests have erupted across Iran since the New Year. Tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in response to a sudden depreciation in the value of the country’s currency, as well as ongoing demands for political reform and an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime.
Iran’s leadership has sustained a huge crackdown. This has left an unknown number—likely many thousands—dead, as well as a nationwide internet blackout in an attempt to suppress the anti-government movement.
The regime is thought to be pursuing two main goals with the blackout. Firstly, it aims to make it more difficult for demonstrators to organise protests. Secondly, it seeks to suppress the publication of reports, photos and videos about the unrest and reprisals. Without the internet, people in the country can’t independently inform themselves or exchange information. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for those abroad to get a clear picture of the scale of the protests.
Donate data volume with Snowflake
But there are ways people outside of Iran can help to combat this censorship and support protesters. People can provide Iranians with free internet access using ’Snowflake’ software.
Anyone with a computer at home can donate bandwidth. Snowflake is a “free extension that can be downloaded to a PC or mobile phone,” explains WDR network expert Jörg Schieb. “The plugin, as an extension, runs in all common Chromium browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Brave and Opera, and as an add-on also in Firefox.”
How does Snowflake work?
Snowflake is run by the Tor Project, designed to bypass internet censorship. While the Tor Browser is often associated with the “darknet”—a part of the web frequently misunderstood due to its use by nefarious actors—it serves as a vital lifeline in countries like Iran, Russia and China. In these regions, Tor is essential for the democratic opposition, journalists and human rights activists to communicate securely and access information without state interference.
The Tor network (short for “The Onion Router”) functions by wrapping data in multiple layers of encryption. It masks a user’s identity by bouncing their connection through a global network of volunteer-run servers.
A global standard for Human Rights
For over two decades, the Tor Project has been recognised as one of the world’s most critical tools for anonymous, censorship-resistant communication. It is a cornerstone of the global digital infrastructure, used daily by:
- Journalists protecting their sources from state surveillance.
- Human rights activists coordinating in high-risk environments.
- Whistleblowers exposing corruption safely.
- Civilians in conflict zones or under authoritarian regimes who simply wish to stay connected to the outside world.
How Snowflake bypasses blockades
Standard Tor connections can sometimes be identified and blocked by sophisticated state firewalls. This is where Snowflake comes in. When you activate Snowflake—either as a browser extension or a standalone application—your computer registers with a central “broker.”
“If a user in a censored region wants to access the open internet, the broker provides them with the temporary address of a volunteer’s Snowflake proxy.”
By acting as a bridge, your computer lends its IP address to someone in need. Because these IP addresses belong to regular residential internet users in the West, they appear completely innocuous to state authorities. While a regime can block known Tor relay servers, it is virtually impossible to block the millions of shifting IP addresses belonging to private citizens.
Safety is built into the system for both the volunteer and the user. As a Snowflake provider, you can see real-time statistics. You can see whether someone is currently using your connection or how many people you have assisted in the last 24 hours. However, you can’t see who’s connecting or what content they are accessing. The system is designed to maintain total anonymity, ensuring that providing a “bridge to freedom” does not compromise your own digital security.
How does it work if the country has no internet?
For a small portion of the population, information continues to flow through an underground ecosystem of digital tools. Amir Rashidi, an Iranian digital rights expert, explained to The Guardian that this network includes Telegram proxies and decentralised browsers like Ceno. However, the most vital component of this resistance is the Starlink satellite system. By connecting directly to thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, these terminals bypass terrestrial filters entirely.
Despite the extreme risks involved, an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Starlink terminals have been smuggled into Iran over the last two years, though they serve only a tiny fraction of the country’s 90 million people.
The legal stakes for using such technology are severe. Under a law passed in 2025, possessing a Starlink terminal can be interpreted as espionage and is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, state-linked media have provided a glimpse into a potential future where the global internet is replaced by a “national internet”. The IRIB news agency recently published a list of approved domestic services, including state-monitored search engines, navigation tools and a government-vetted version of Netflix.
“Snowflake proxies are likely to be especially helpful”
Rashidi warns that these sites are part of an effort to build a “skeleton web” that is even more restricted than China’s Great Firewall. The new system will be managed entirely by the government and largely disconnected from the outside world. Experts like Rashidi believe this could mean the open internet, as it once existed in these regions, may never return.
RESET spoke to The Tor Project’s Director of Strategic Communications, Pavel Zoneff, about this important potential limitation. He told us that “many of the ways to run a Snowflake require either downloading a browser-extension or an app,” and that they recommend users download the tool ahead of time. Obviously, this isn’t always possible.
However, as we’ve discussed, the internet isn’t going to be cut off forever. Many people were aware of what was coming (this is far from the first time the Iranian authorities have cut off the internet), giving them time to prepare. According to Zoneff, “we observed a significant increase in Snowflake usage during the demonstrations shortly before the internet shutdown. If and when connectivity is restored, Snowflake proxies are likely to be especially helpful”.
To circumvent such heavy censorship, users must download a Tor-powered application, such as the Tor Browser or Orbot. If a standard connection is blocked by the firewall, access can often be restored through the app’s settings by enabling Snowflake. This technology allows users to bypass the “skeleton web” by routing their traffic through the browsers of volunteers worldwide, disguising their activity.
Is it legal?
Across Europe, sharing your internet bandwidth to support human rights is entirely legal. While national laws vary slightly, the fundamental principle remains the same: providing a gateway to the open internet is a protected activity under digital freedom frameworks.
Additionally, accessing the Tor network or the “darknet” is not a crime in any EU member state. As the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) notes, common misconceptions often cloud the network’s reputation:
“Due to the many stories circulating about the darknet and the anonymity of its users, it’s easy to get the impression that the network is inherently illegal.”
In reality, European legal standards distinguish between a tool and an action. Using an anonymisation service like Snowflake is a legitimate exercise of the right to privacy. Legal issues only arise if an individual uses that connection to engage in criminal activity, such as purchasing prohibited goods or accessing illegal content.
For the volunteer providing the Snowflake bridge, the process is designed to be “pass-through,” meaning you are not responsible for the traffic passing through your proxy, much like an internet service provider isn’t responsible for the contents of a customer’s email.
By running a Snowflake proxy, European citizens can take a proactive stand for global freedom of expression without overstepping legal boundaries at home.
Is my data secure?
One of the most common concerns for volunteers is whether sharing their connection puts their own data at risk. However, the technology is built with a strict “sandbox” approach. As WDR digital expert Jörg Schieb explains:
“The extension is installed directly in the browser and does not allow access to personal documents or any other data on your hard drive or memory. It acts solely as a ‘hinge’ to redirect traffic from censored regions into the network. Beyond that, nothing else happens on your system.”
This means your private files, passwords and browsing history remain entirely isolated from the Snowflake process.
In an era where digital borders are increasingly being drawn, Snowflake offers a rare opportunity to help tear them down. It requires no technical expertise and carries no risk to your personal data—just a few clicks to keep the window to the world open for someone else.
