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Paskoocheh

Countering digital authoritarianism

Paskoocheh, Persian for "alleyway," is an app store, community hub, and a one-stop-shop for Iranians to access information and tools to circumvent censorship, securely communicate, and express themselves online.

In a region where authorities heavily restrict internet access, block major platforms, and sanctions limit access to global tools, we partner with developers and user communities to strengthen censorship resilience and ensure technologies continuously evolve to counter information controls and shutdowns. Paskoocheh allows users to download tools directly through one of four censorship-resilient channels (i.e. website, Android app, email bot, and Telegram bot).

Paskoocheh utilizes Iranian community support networks to:

  • Conduct in-country user testing, relaying insights to developers to help improve the overall resilience and usability of circumvention tools.
  • Disseminate accessible user guides, blog posts, and multimedia content to help users navigate best practices when it comes to online privacy and digital security.

Since Paskoocheh's launch in 2016, we've had over 17.5 million tool downloads, created an active community of 2,000+ members supporting localization and testing, and actively handle over 200 user tickets per day through Paskoocheh's help desk.

Impact

17.5M+ circumvention tool downloads inside Iran since 2016, served through four censorship-resilient channels and a community-driven help desk.

How your donation helps

  • Knowledge sharing and upskilling information sharers, setup helpers, and infrastructure enablers in-country, helping them become their own community support steward. The access-sharing social network is harder to disrupt and possesses a resilience that surpasses that of any single technical tool. While tools are blocked, servers are taken down, and new protocols are throttled, communities can persist and adapt to these failures.

  • Open-source repository and modularize the Paskoocheh suite of solutions, enabling organizations, regardless of region or context, to complete online onboarding processes, answer a set of tailored questions, and receive the most effective strategies and solutions for their specific needs.

Recent donations

  • $1 to Paskoocheh via t-ZEC
    3h ago
  • $1 to Paskoocheh via Ethereum
    3h ago