The Supreme Council of Cyberspace of Iran and the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, unanimously decided to end the blocking of the WhatsApp messenger and the Google Play application store, IRNA reports. Authorities limited access to services following the 2022 protests.
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The promise to relax Internet censorship was one of the points of Pezeshkian’s electoral program, Bloomberg notes. According to the agency, the authorities took this measure in a context of growing discontent in the country caused by “serious economic and foreign policy problems”, including Iran’s participation in numerous conflicts in the Middle East.
“Today we have taken the first step towards lifting restrictions on Internet resources, striving for unity and cooperation. I congratulate the president, the media and activists for their efforts. We need your solidarity more than ever. This path continues,” commented the Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technologies, Sattar Hashemi, about the unlocking.
According to Iran Insight, the decision made by Pezeshkian and the cyberspace council still requires ratification by Iran’s Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The portal also noted that access to Google Play will allow the country’s residents to use VPN services to avoid other restrictions.
Facebook*, X, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram remain blocked in Iran.
*Facebook belongs to Meta, which is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia and is banned.
Author:
Mikhail Zelenin
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
