As the Iranian government attempts to restrict communications in the midst of continuous rallies in the country, a bipartisan group of 13 congressmen has challenged prominent US tech CEOs to "do more" to assist the Iranian people in remaining connected to the internet.
The Demonstrations in Iran
CNBC reported that while people all around Iran continue to protest the government's repressive policies, the authorities there have taken active efforts to cut off residents' access to the internet and anti-government messaging.
Protests broke out when Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died in the custody of Iran's so-called morality police. Amini had been arrested for allegedly not properly wearing her hijab, the Islamic head covering.
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Letter to the Bosses
In a letter sent to the various companies' respective executives, the lawmakers urged the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and cloud provider DigitalOcean to be "more proactive" in providing essential services in Iran.
US sanctions on Iran were clarified by the Treasury Department last month, making it apparent that services like social networking, video conferencing, and cloud-based VPNs are permitted in the country.
According to CNBC, the initiative was led by Reps. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and Sens. Bob Menendez and Marsha Blackburn.
The letter stated that Iranians are boldly risking their lives for their basic rights and dignity.
And the words, "Your tools and services may be vital in their efforts to pursue these aspirations, and the United States should continue to make every effort to assist them," were added in the letter.
Seeking More Help from Tech Giants
The letter suggested corporations provide Iranians with cloud and hosting services, messaging and communication tools, developer and analytics tools, and app stores.
Legislators argued that using such technologies would let Iranians circumvent government-mandated internet blackouts and minimize their dependence on local infrastructure. They reasoned that if numerous encrypted messaging options were available, the Iranian government would have a stricter time blocking them all at once.
They also claimed that equipping Iranians with access to developer tools and app stores would enable them to build and strengthen their own communications applications and security solutions and provide a venue to distribute them free from government monitoring.
Responses from the Tech Companies
A Google representative remarked in a statement that the firm is looking at measures to ensure continuing access to broadly available communications tools in Iran, like Google Meet and other internet services.
Last month, Google released location sharing on Google Maps in Iran so individuals could let their friends and family know where they were. And right now, the Jigsaw team at Google is striving to make its technology more publicly accessible so users in Iran may operate their own VPNs that defy filtering.
Meta had no feedback to provide. But based on reports, Meta-owned Instagram and WhatsApp were made accessible in Iran, though the authorities have since blocked access to these platforms.
Other companies mentioned in the letter have not reacted yet.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Trisha Kae Andrada
