ISLAMABAD: Iran has lifted the ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, according to Iranian state media.
Reuters news agency reported that Iran has some of the strictest controls on internet access in the world, but its blocks on US-based social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using virtual private networks.
Majority vote
“A positive majority vote has been reached to lift limitations on access to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play”, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday, referring to a meeting on the matter headed by the country’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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“Today the first measure in removing internet limitations… has been taken,” IRNA quoted Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Sattar Hashemi as saying.
Social media platforms have been used by rights activists in Iran.
In September, the United States called on Big Tech to help evade online censorship in nations that heavily sensor the internet, including Iran, Reuters news agency reported.
