The decision has been praised by Iranian reformists but criticized by conservatives.
Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace has voted unanimously to end the nationwide ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, Iranian state media announced Tuesday. These restrictions, implemented in 2022, targeted numerous Western messaging and social media platforms amidst widespread civil unrest.
“The ban on WhatsApp and Google Play has been lifted following a unanimous vote by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace members,” the IRNA news agency reported after a council meeting chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“Today marks the first step in easing internet restrictions, achieved through unanimous agreement,” Iranian Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi subsequently posted on X.
WhatsApp, Google Play, and other platforms, including Instagram, were blocked in Iran in September 2022, following protests triggered by the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. Tehran attributed the protests to Western intelligence agencies and police in the capital have released video suggesting the woman died of a heart attack.
Facebook, X, and YouTube have been inaccessible in Iran since 2009.
Reformists have consistently argued that these bans haven’t enhanced national security, but have instead angered the public. “What positive outcome have [the bans] yielded beyond public anger, increased hardship, and widespread pessimism?!” presidential advisor Ali Rabiei questioned in a Tuesday X post.
However, according to AFP, conservative lawmakers petitioned the Supreme Council of Cyberspace before the vote, urging them to maintain the restrictions, claiming that lifting them would be a “gift to Iran’s enemies.”
In September, the White House encouraged American tech executives to aid Iranians in circumventing government restrictions by providing free VPN access to their platforms. VPNs enable users to access web services through proxy servers in other countries.