Iran’s Supreme Cyberspace Council, the body responsible for regulating the Internet and cyberspace in the country, voted on Tuesday to lift the ban on the messaging application WhatsApp, in force for more than two years.
“The ban on WhatsApp and Google Play was lifted by a unanimous vote of the members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace”reported the official Irna news agency.
“This is the first step in the plan to lift restrictions”said the agency.
The Minister of Communications, Sattar Hashemi, greeted on the X network a “first step towards lifting restrictions on the Internet with (…) consensus”.
Iran blocked Instagram and WhatsApp after protests sparked in 2022 by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. These were then the most used applications since the ban on Youtube, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and Tiktok.
These bans fueled controversy in Iran, with critics arguing that they were costly for the country.
“The restrictions have brought nothing but anger and additional costs for citizens”said Tuesday on X a presidential advisor, Ali Rabiei.
“President Massoud Pezeshkian believes in removing restrictions and does not consider bans to be in the interest of the people and the country”affirmed for his part Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian vice-president in charge of strategic affairs.
Respect for “values” Islamic
Others, however, have expressed reservations about lifting restrictions.
The reformist daily Shargh thus indicated on Tuesday that 136 deputies out of the 290 members of Parliament had sent a letter to the Council to denounce this measure, a “gift to enemies” from Iran.
According to the newspaper, MPs demanded that access to restricted online platforms be allowed only “if they are attached to the values of Islamic society and respect the laws of Iran”.
Photo released by the Iranian presidency of President Massoud Pezeshkian, October 2, 2024 in Tehran / – / Iranian Presidency/AFP/Archives
President Massoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July, pledged during his campaign to ease restrictions on Internet use that had been in place for many years.
In March, an Iranian minister announced that the government would authorize international platforms to work in the country if they agreed to open representative offices there.
Meta, the American giant that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, responded that it had no intention of setting up in Iran, a country subject to a severe sanctions regime by the United States.
Faced with limitations on the Internet, many Iranians have taken to using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the restrictions.
Other popular platforms, such as Facebook, X and YouTube, have remained blocked since 2009, and the instant messaging app Telegram was banned by a court ruling in April 2018.
In an attempt to replace foreign services, Iran has developed its own applications over the years.
For navigation, users have « Neshan » et « Ballad »while for carpooling, they can turn to « Snap! » or « You will ». When it comes to messaging, local applications such as « Bale », « Ita », “Rubik” et « Soroush » have emerged, also offering calling features.