Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) released a directive with new rules for the country's internet landscape, including a ban on VPNs without a legal permit.

The new VPN ban is reportedly not for the general public, but for top state entities like the office of the supreme leader, the presidency, the judiciary, and the parliament.

The SCC directive aims to incentivize content creators and businesses to move to local platforms, with the goal of bringing at least half of the target audience to local platforms within six months.

The directive also tasks the ICT ministry with offering government services on local platforms exclusively, with at least two services ready within six months.

The SCC directive suggests providing access to "useful foreign services" in the form of "governable formats," including "shells" of foreign platforms that would not be blocked like the main versions.

The use of "shells" of foreign platforms has been experienced before in Iran, with potential breaches of privacy and data leaks, but the new directive aims to officially endorse such shells.