Supreme Council of Cyberspace
Iran's highest internet policy authority, chaired by the President, that oversees filtering, censorship, and network architecture decisions.
Last refreshed: 26 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
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Iran Conflict 2026- What is the Supreme Council of Cyberspace in Iran?
- The Supreme Council of Cyberspace is Iran's highest internet policy authority, established under Supreme Leader mandate. It governs filtering, platform regulation, and network architecture. The elected President chairs it, but ultimate authority rests with the Supreme Leader's office.
- How long has Iran's internet been shut down during the 2026 conflict?
- By mid-May 2026 Iran's internet blackout had exceeded 1,700 cumulative hours, making it the longest sustained national internet restriction NetBlocks has ever recorded, more than twelve times longer than the 2019 Iran shutdown.Source: NetBlocks
- Who controls Iran's internet and what are their powers?
- The Supreme Council of Cyberspace controls Iran's internet architecture and censorship policy. It can authorise total shutdowns, tiered access schemes, and hardware procurement, and it operates under the authority of the Supreme Leader rather than the elected government.
- What is Iran's tiered internet system and who gets access?
- Iran operates a three-tier wartime internet: 'white internet' with free uncensored access for government loyalists and senior officials; 'Internet Pro' at 40,000 tomans per gigabyte for licensed professionals; and a near-total blackout for the remaining population.Source: Euronews
- Is Iran building a system like China's Great Firewall?
- Iran has purchased Chinese Deep Packet Inspection hardware and, according to a member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, is designing a tiered censorship system modelled on China's ten-month sealing of Xinjiang from the internet in 2009, intended to replace the blunt total blackout with selective throttling.Source: Lowdown reporting
Background
The Supreme Council of Cyberspace is Iran's apex body for internet governance, established under a Supreme Leader mandate to coordinate filtering policy, platform regulation, and network architecture across all state agencies. It sits above the elected government in the hierarchy: the President chairs sessions, but the Council's decisions ultimately reflect the Supreme Leader's authority. In May 2026 the Council oversaw the procurement of Chinese Deep Packet Inspection hardware, a step that member Mohammad Sarafraz publicly confirmed, describing an ambition to build a tiered, switchable internet system modelled on China's 2009 Xinjiang isolation.
The Council's wartime role became highly visible from March 2026 Onward. It sanctioned the Supreme National Security Council's decision to impose an internet blackout that exceeded 1,700 cumulative hours by mid-May, the longest national internet restriction NetBlocks has ever logged. When the economic damage grew severe, the Council approved a tiered restoration scheme: a 'white internet' for loyalists and senior officials, a paid 'Internet Pro' tier for select professionals, and continued blackout for roughly 99% of the population.
The Council exemplifies Iran's dual-state model: a technocratic body with regulatory language and formal procedures, but one whose jurisdiction ultimately serves the Supreme Leader's political priorities. Its DPI procurement marks a structural shift: from reactive shutdown as a crisis measure toward a permanent, graduated censorship infrastructure capable of discriminating by user class without visible switches going dark.
