Enlarge / The Starlink dish and router. (credit: Starlink)

Elon Musk’s Starlink has activated its satellite broadband service in Iran after the US allowed private companies to offer uncensored Internet access to the country amid protests that have caused more than 40 deaths.

The open Internet access follows Starlink’s activation in Ukraine earlier this year as that country’s communication networks were disrupted by Russia’s invasion.

Starlink is the first in a new generation of satellite networks operating in low Earth orbit that are designed to provide high-bandwidth Internet connections from space directly to individual users. Starlink users are able to bypass a country’s terrestrial communications networks, freeing them from Internet censorship.