Mission
Defend digital access and freedom of expression by building open tools, documenting network interference, and collaborating with others, so people keep control over expressing their views and demands.
About us
We break digital borders with open technology: we build tools against internet shutdowns and throttling, and we do research so people’s real voices are heard even when authorities try to hide them.
Why we exist
Authoritarian governments treat the internet like an on/off switch: when protests rise they slow it down, shut the network overnight, find and block circumvention tools, and scramble or suppress people’s voices. In those conditions, people lose both access and a trustworthy way to be heard.
Payam Foundation was founded to push back against exactly that. We build open tools and work with others so communities can stay online, protect their channels, and express their views and demands with an independent voice, whether they live inside the country or abroad.
Access and the right to be heard should not depend on government permission.
Vision
Communities where people can connect with each other and speak freely, without the network being turned into a weapon against them.
Team
The people behind the work
Ghazaleh
Project Director
Holds the big picture when the work gets messy, and makes sure good ideas do not die in the middle.
Yasaman
Data Scientist
Makes careful measurement feel human: clear methods, honest limits, findings worth reading.
Davod
Technology Lead
Keeps the craft honest: simple where it can be, solid where it must be.
What we are building toward
Priorities for the next few years
These are the problems we will keep building against, beyond any single project.
Keep access alive
Tools and research against shutdowns, throttling, and the blocking of proxies and other ways people reconnect.
Defend independent speech
Ways for people to speak and be heard when authorities scramble, suppress, or rewrite the public story.
Open collaboration
Shared methods, reusable tools, and collaboration with labs, journalists, and communities who face the same pressure.
Grow digital resilience
Help people and groups spot interference, recover connectivity, and stay safer online over time.