The New York Times – January 13, 2026
By: Natallie Rocha
“Users of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service in Iran were able to use the service for free on Tuesday, according to U.S.-based organizations that work on international technology issues.
“Starlink’s parent company, the rocket maker SpaceX, waived fees for the service on Tuesday morning, said Ahmad Ahmadian, the executive director of Holistic Resilience, a nonprofit that helps Iranians get access to the web. He said people in Iran had told him that they did not have to pay Starlink to get online, amid a near-total communications blackout in the country as it grapples with mass protests.
“Mehdi Yahyanejad, a co-founder of NetFreedom Pioneers, a U.S.-based tech nonprofit, said a person he works with in Iran had also connected to the internet using Starlink for free on Tuesday. The person tested the free access by turning on an unused Starlink device, he said.”
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