Don't Exclude Iranian Users from Firefox Built-in VPN
Dear Mozilla Team,
I'm writing to express my disappointment and concern about the recent restriction on Firefox's built-in VPN for users connecting from Iran.
People in Iran live under severe internet restrictions, widespread censorship, and limited access to independent information and online services. For us, VPNs are not simply a convenience or a way to change our virtual location. They are essential tools for accessing the open internet, communicating freely, and overcoming censorship.
That's precisely why I find it deeply disappointing that Mozilla's built-in VPN has become unavailable to users in Iran, displaying the message:
"VPN is unavailable. Local laws and restrictions limit where you can use VPN."
I understand that Mozilla may have legal and regulatory obligations to consider. However, I urge you to reconsider the impact of this decision on ordinary Iranian users.
People who are already deprived of basic internet freedoms should not face additional barriers from a company whose mission and values are built around an open, accessible, and free internet.
Mozilla has long stood for privacy, freedom, and an open web. I sincerely hope these principles will extend to Iranian users as well, rather than leaving them behind precisely when they need these tools the most.
Could you please clarify:
1. Why has Firefox's built-in VPN become unavailable in Iran? 2. Is this a permanent restriction or a temporary measure? 3. Is Mozilla actively considering any way to make this service accessible to Iranian users?
We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking not to be excluded from tools that help people access the free and open internet.
I hope Mozilla will listen to the voices of its Iranian users and reconsider this decision.
Best regards, A Firefox user from Iran
All Replies (4)
Hi Q,
We recently discovered potential abuse of Firefox’s free built-in VPN by unauthorized third-party apps and temporarily disrupted access to investigate. Service has now been restored.
Can you try again and see if it works now?
Hi,
Thank you for your response and for looking into this issue.
Unfortunately, I have tried again, but the VPN is still not working for me. I continue to receive the same message.
It seems that access has not yet been restored for users connecting from Iran.
I would appreciate it if you could investigate this further.
As I mentioned in my previous message, access to VPN services is particularly important for users in Iran due to widespread internet censorship and restrictions.
Best regards, Q
Can you try to log out from your Mozilla account and log back in to see if it help?
A couple of users on the other threads have confirmed that it's working normally for them.
Thank you for your suggestion. I followed your instructions and logged out of my Mozilla account and then logged back in. Unfortunately, this did not resolve the issue, and the VPN still does not connect.
However, I discovered something important while testing: Firefox's built-in VPN only connects successfully if I first enable another VPN service. Once another VPN is connected, Firefox's VPN works normally.
This strongly suggests that the issue is specifically related to connecting directly from an Iranian IP address. In other words, when I try to use Firefox VPN with my regular Iranian IP address, the connection fails.
As you can imagine, this defeats the purpose of having a built-in VPN for users in Iran. We cannot always rely on having access to another working VPN just to activate Firefox's own VPN service.
I would appreciate it if your technical team could investigate this issue further, particularly whether connections originating from Iranian IP addresses are still being restricted.
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