The supreme council of the Area Cyber adopted unanimously the lifting of the ban on WhatsApp and Google Play Store in Iran. This is the first step towards easing the restrictions established over 15 years ago. This change was required by the president of the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, in office as of 28 July, 2024. However, the decision must be ratified by the office of the leader commander in chief Ali Khamenei.
Opening up to the West, or simply the propaganda?
According to Freedom House, Iran is in third place in the ranking of countries where access to the internet is restricted, after China and the Mianmarit. In some cases, access to the internet was blocked after the protests of the population: in the year of 2009, after years of Mahmud Ahmadinexhad in 2019 after an increase in the cost of fuel, and in 2022, after the murder of a 22-years old Mahsa Amini.
The citizens iranianë have not yet been able to use Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and Telegram. The High council of Space Cybersecurity, decided yesterday to lift the ban on WhatsApp, and Google's Play Store, but it is unknown as to when it will be possible to access. The removal of the restrictions on the internet is one of the decrees of the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, during the campaign for his election.
Access to the Google Play Store and it will allow users of Android to download the VPN to bypass the blocks to the other. According to some journalists, the decision of the reformistëve it's simply propaganda. In fact, it would be intensified surveillance (monitoring via the IP address associated with the identity), and it will be added to the legal measures against the abuses being carried out on the platforms and languages.
It provides the ranking of the users on the basis of the work place and in close proximity to the centres of power. In practice, however, it shall be established for different levels of access to the internet. The ban on YouTube, it can also be removed in the future, but that access to it will be done just via the web portal run by the government.
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