From Using to Infrastructuring: Grassroots VPN-Building in Iran’s Women–Life–Freedom Movement

Paper Title

From Using to Infrastructuring: Grassroots VPN-Building in Iran’s Women–Life–Freedom Movement

Publication Info

• Topic area: Digital resistance and grassroots infrastructuring under authoritarian control.
• Keywords: VPNs, grassroots infrastructuring, censorship circumvention, digital activism, Women–Life–Freedom movement, Iran, socio-technical systems, peer learning, surveillance, authoritarian regimes.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing research on digital activism focuses on external circumvention tools rather than citizen-led initiatives for building and maintaining infrastructures under repression. There is limited understanding of how socio-technical systems evolve in authoritarian contexts, where risk and survival are central.
• Significance: Grassroots infrastructuring enables marginalized communities to sustain connectivity and resist state control, which is critical for preserving political agency and livelihoods under censorship and surveillance.
• Motivation and related work: Previous studies have documented external circumvention tools like VPNs and Tor, but they fail to address citizen-led infrastructuring. The Women–Life–Freedom (WLF) movement in Iran represents a shift from passive tool use to active creation of decentralized infrastructures, filling gaps in knowledge about survival-driven infrastructuring under authoritarian repression.

Solution

• Proposed approach: Empirical investigation of grassroots VPN-building and infrastructuring during Iran’s WLF movement, focusing on socio-technical practices, peer learning, and material logistics.
• Novelty:
  1. Empirical account of grassroots infrastructuring during the WLF movement in Iran.
  2. Conceptual reframing of end-user development as politically charged survival work embedded in trust and care networks.
  3. Theoretical lens on infrastructures of resistance enacted through repair, pedagogy, care, and logistics.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted 21 interviews with participants in Kermanshah province, diaspora activists, and Kolbar networks.
  • Analyzed socio-technical practices for building and maintaining VPNs, proxies, and encrypted communication tools.
  • Traced the role of peer learning platforms (Telegram, GitHub, X) and material provisioning (smuggled hardware) in sustaining connectivity.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Citizens transitioned from using commercial VPNs to building grassroots infrastructures, including self-hosted VPNs, chained proxies, and hybrid systems combining satellite and domestic ISP links.
  • Peer learning platforms (e.g., Telegram, GitHub) enabled non-experts to deploy circumvention tools via tutorials and automated dashboards.
  • Material provisioning (e.g., smuggled routers, satellite kits) supported connectivity in disconnected regions.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • Grassroots infrastructures reduced dependency on commercial VPNs, which were distrusted due to state surveillance risks.
  • Enabled sustained connectivity and resilience under throttling, filtering, and economic deterrence.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Interviews with 21 participants across urban, rural, and border areas, including Kolbars and diaspora activists.
  • Analysis of socio-technical practices, motivations, and constraints shaping infrastructuring.
  • MAXQDA coding and reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns in infrastructural solidarity and technical improvisation.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited sample size (21 participants) and geographic focus on Kermanshah province.
  • Security risks constrained prolonged observation and validation of all reported configurations.
  • Future research should include multi-site ethnography, network measurements, and transferability to other authoritarian contexts.

Summary

This study examines how the Women–Life–Freedom movement in Iran transformed digital resistance from passive tool use to grassroots infrastructuring. Citizens built and maintained VPNs, proxies, and encrypted communication systems under repression, leveraging peer learning platforms and material provisioning to sustain connectivity. Findings highlight the socio-technical coupling of repair, pedagogy, care, and logistics in resisting censorship and surveillance. This work contributes to HCI and CSCW by reframing end-user development as survival work and proposing design implications for circumvention tools that align with grassroots practices. Future research should explore broader applicability and governance dynamics in similar contexts.