Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom, https://www.iranianwomen4internet.org/

March 23, 2026  ·  Geneva, Switzerland

Why Everyone Who Cares About the Internet Should Be Watching This Week’s ITU RRB Meeting

This week — March 23 to 27, 2026 — the International Telecommunication Union’s Radio Regulations Board (RRB) is holding its first session of the year in Geneva. Twelve people, elected at a global conference of governments, are making decisions about how radio spectrum is governed (and resolving conflicts) around the world. Those decisions include matters directly affecting satellite Internet access. By watching we don’t mean watch the proceedings because that is not possible as the process is closed. But if you can monitor and follow up, you should.

Iran’s communications blackout, which began on January 8, 2026, is now in its third month. At its worst, connectivity dropped to approximately 4% of normal levels. People inside Iran have been cut off from their families, from journalists, from emergency services, and from the rest of the world, not because of a technical failure, but because the government sabotaged the Internet. Some are now crossing borders to have access to the Internet to do their jobs. Normal life is disrupted even further amidst of war and oppression.

What Does the ITU Radio Regulations Board Have to Do With This?

The Islamic Republic of Iran filed a formal complaint with the ITU about satellite Internet services reaching Iranian users. The Iranian government framed this as an interference issue under technical radio regulations and a violation of its sovereignty. In practice, it was an attempt to use an international governance body to legitimize its shutdown and cut off one of the last remaining lifelines for people inside Iran.

In January 2026, we submitted a letter to the RRB in response to Iran’s complaint. The letter made the case that the shutdown was not proportionate, that satellite connectivity functions as a critical lifeline during near-total government-imposed blackouts, and that the Board’s deliberations should be open to technical experts, civil society, and the Internet community not just governments and their appointees.

The RRB secretariat rejected our submission and mentioned that only Member States are permitted to formally participate in RRB proceedings. Islamic Republic can file regulatory complaints. The Iranians whose access to the Internet those complaints would eliminate have no standing. The procedural rejection proved the coalition’s point: current governance structures privilege state control over the connectivity and rights of affected communities.

The coalition then reached out individually to the twelve RRB members — from France and Brazil to Azerbaijan — asking them, as a matter of human rights awareness, to consider the human cost of the issues before them. We received one response.

Why This Matters for the Open Internet

This is not just an Iran story. The RRB and ITU unfortunately are becoming the governance bodies for satellite Internet connectivity.

The ITU’s structures were built for a world of national telecommunications monopolies. In that world, governments spoke for their populations by definition. That world no longer exists, but the rules haven’t caught up. When a government shuts down its population’s internet and then goes to an international body to restrict alternative connectivity, the only voices that body is structured to hear are other governments. The people whose lives depend on staying connected are invisible to the process.

Internet governance has long operated on a “multistakeholder”/ “bottom-up” model the idea that technical experts, civil society, the private sector, and governments all have a seat at the table. The RRB proceedings show the limits of that model when it matters most. As long as the most consequential decisions about connectivity happen in forums where only states can participate, the public is going to be at a loss.

What We Are Asking

We are asking the global Internet community, researchers, technologists, advocates, and anyone who believes that Internet access is a human right or access to the Internet is access to essential services is to pay attention to what happens in Geneva this week, to support efforts to open ITU processes to civil society voices, and to reject the framing that Internet shutdowns are a legitimate exercise of “digital sovereignty” and defend access to satellite Internet like any other kind of access to the Internet.

Satellite Internet is not a geopolitical threat. For millions of people, it is the last option when their government decides to cut the cord. Protecting that option requires governance structures that treat people, not just states, as stakeholders.

Our Advocacy & Background Reading

Our RRB SubmissionLetter to the Radio Regulations Board responding to Iran’s complaint on satellite services (Document R26-RRB26.1-C-0002) — submitted January 2026;

Coalition LetterOpen letter from the Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom to the international Internet community, the ITU, and the United Nations — calling on institutions to condemn the misuse of “digital sovereignty” to justify shutdowns and support resilient, open communications infrastructure

RRB26-1 Meeting itu.int — ITU Radio Regulations Board, Session 1 of 2026

FOC Joint Statement Freedom Online Coalition joint statement condemning Iran’s internet shutdown — signed by 26 governments, February 4, 2026

Shutdown Data Miaan Group — human rights documentation of the Iran shutdown

Technical Analysis Technical reporting on Iran’s connectivity collapse by Doug Madory (Kentik) — tracking internet measurement data through the blackout Iranian Women’s Coalition for Internet Freedom  ·  2026