WhatsApp Ban Lifted in Iran
The Iranian government has made the decision to lift a two-year ban on WhatsApp and Google Play. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace has unanimously agreed to lift the nationwide ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, according to state media reports from Tuesday. This ban was put in place during significant civil unrest in 2022, when access to various Western messaging and social media platforms was restricted.
“The ban on WhatsApp and Google Play was removed by unanimous vote of the members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace,” the IRNA news agency stated, following a meeting led by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“Today, we took the first step towards lifting internet restrictions with unanimity and consensus,” Iranian Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi later shared on X.
The restrictions on WhatsApp, Google Play, and several other services, including Instagram, were implemented in September 2022 after the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody led to widespread protests. The Iranian government asserts that these protests were incited by Western intelligence agencies, with police in Tehran releasing footage suggesting that the woman died from a heart attack rather than from mistreatment.
Additionally, platforms like Facebook, X, and YouTube have been banned in Iran since 2009.
Reformists have consistently argued that these bans have not enhanced national security and have only served to frustrate the Iranian public. “What have [the bans] achieved so far except anger and additional costs to people's lives and the spread of pessimism?!” wrote presidential adviser Ali Rabiei in a post on X on Tuesday.
However, a group of conservative lawmakers sent a letter to the Supreme Council of Cyberspace before the vote, urging them to maintain the restrictions, arguing that lifting them would be a “gift to [Iran’s] enemies.”
In September, the White House called on American tech CEOs to assist Iranians in circumventing government censorship by providing free VPN tools to access their platforms. VPNs, or virtual private networks, enable users to connect to online services through proxy servers located in other countries.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this report for TROIB News
“The ban on WhatsApp and Google Play was removed by unanimous vote of the members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace,” the IRNA news agency stated, following a meeting led by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“Today, we took the first step towards lifting internet restrictions with unanimity and consensus,” Iranian Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi later shared on X.
The restrictions on WhatsApp, Google Play, and several other services, including Instagram, were implemented in September 2022 after the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody led to widespread protests. The Iranian government asserts that these protests were incited by Western intelligence agencies, with police in Tehran releasing footage suggesting that the woman died from a heart attack rather than from mistreatment.
Additionally, platforms like Facebook, X, and YouTube have been banned in Iran since 2009.
Reformists have consistently argued that these bans have not enhanced national security and have only served to frustrate the Iranian public. “What have [the bans] achieved so far except anger and additional costs to people's lives and the spread of pessimism?!” wrote presidential adviser Ali Rabiei in a post on X on Tuesday.
However, a group of conservative lawmakers sent a letter to the Supreme Council of Cyberspace before the vote, urging them to maintain the restrictions, arguing that lifting them would be a “gift to [Iran’s] enemies.”
In September, the White House called on American tech CEOs to assist Iranians in circumventing government censorship by providing free VPN tools to access their platforms. VPNs, or virtual private networks, enable users to connect to online services through proxy servers located in other countries.
Sophie Wagner contributed to this report for TROIB News
