Big Tech should exploit Iran comms licence more fully, say senators
A bipartisan group of US senators has said that ‘big tech’ firms ‘including Google, Apple and Facebook – can do much more to help Iranians’ in accordance with the recently issued OFAC general licence D-2.
In an open letter to the chief executive officers of Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Digital Ocean, Senate foreign relations committee chair Bob Menendez, along with other senators from both sides of the house, said,
‘We write you concerning the recent issuance of General License D-2 (GLD-2) by the Department of the Treasury and urge your companies and their subsidiaries to utilize the new license and expand lawful access of key communications services to Iranians inside Iran. In response to nationwide protests, the Iranian regime has sought to suppress the protests with force, mass detentions, and has severely restricted internet and communication services. It remains vitally important that Iranians retain connections to the outside world, access to sources of independent information, and remain connected to one another. We ask your companies to provide expeditiously and lawfully the tools Iranians need to circumvent government blockages.
‘Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in custody of Iran’s “morality police,” Iranians have sustained protests across the country to demand an end to structural discrimination laws and government repression. In addition to its security response, the regime has also caused a near-total disruption of internet connectivity in parts of Iran and blocked various messaging platforms and video games with chat functions.
‘We commend the Department of the Treasury for issuing GLD-2 in response to congressional calls to expand unrestricted internet access in Iran, particularly censorship circumvention technologies.’
The letter urges the CEOs to take ‘proactive steps’ to ensure that Iranians can access Cloud and hosting services: ‘These services are vital for Iranians to move off insecure domestic data infrastructure controlled by government institutions. Returning these services to Iranian civil society and citizens will enable more adaptive responses to government-imposed internet shutdowns, including running their own VPNs and creating safe data storage.’
Messaging platforms and other communication tools: ‘Expanding the number of messaging platforms makes it harder for Iranian authorities to shut off all communication at once. In addition, private messaging services provide more ways for Iranians to remain connected while lessening dependance on government-controlled infrastructure.’
Developer and analytics tools: ‘Developer software and services will make it easier for Iranian civil society to create and harden their own secure communications apps and virtual proxy networks (VPNs) to circumvent government filters. Access to analytics software would also improve their own tools and avoid Iran-based analytic services, which have a nexus with government institutions and collect customer data. Domain, routing, and hosting services, along with security certificates and privacy enhancing technologies, would likewise improve resilience.’
Access to app stores: ‘Iranians ought to have access to app stores that let Iranians upload their apps on a secure distribution platform and provide an alternative to Iranian app stores, which risk surveillance.’
