Breaking the Blackout: Iranian Protestors Use Freedom Tech to Bypass Regime Crackdown

Amid intense protests, the Iranian regime implemented a nationwide telecoms blackout and jammed satellite services like Starlink to suppress demonstrators. In response, Iranians are adopting 'freedom tech' tools such as Bitchat and Noghteha, which enable offline communication via Bluetooth mesh networks and the Nostr protocol, bypassing the internet shutdown. Bitchat, co-created by Jack Dorsey, gained attention for its decentralized nature. Noghteha is a closed-source fork of Bitchat, adapted with Persian support and tailored features for the Iranian context, seeing rapid adoption. While the Noghteha developer claims the closed-source nature is a defense against regime phishing attacks that target open-source apps, Bitchat's co-creator, Calle, has warned against using the closed-source version due to security concerns and lack of attribution. Ultimately, the situation highlights how Bitcoin-rooted technologies are being repurposed to empower communication and autonomy against state repression, even as debates arise over the security trade-offs between open and closed-source adaptations in adversarial environments.

(Source：Bitcoin Magazine)