Iran is taking the first steps toward easing widespread social media bans

Iran has said it will begin easing some of the world’s toughest internet restrictions, lifting bans on WhatsApp and Google Play, a sign that the government wants to appease domestic opponents as the Islamic Republic faces serious economic and foreign policy challenges.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace approved the unblocking of “some widely used foreign platforms,” ​​according to the Islamic Republic’s state news agency, which named WhatsApp and Google Play as the first two apps to be unblocked.

After the 2009 protests against the re-election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, social media sites including Facebook, X and YouTube were banned or restricted by the authorities, who accused them of facilitating protests and inciting opposition to the state.

Iran’s government has faced criticism over the years from ordinary Iranians, Western governments, the United Nations and political activists for its draconian approach to the Internet. Officials, most of whom use banned social media sites to maintain their own public accounts, often fail to follow through on promises to reduce censorship. Instead, it has grown significantly over the past 10 years.

It is not known when Tuesday’s decision will take effect. IRNA said it was reached by a unanimous vote at a council meeting attended by the head of the judiciary and reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who promised to loosen internet freedoms for Iranians when he was elected in July.

The move comes as the Islamic Republic, already deeply unpopular at home after a nationwide uprising in 2022 that was brutally suppressed, is at odds with Israel over its support for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Both groups, designated as terrorist organizations by the US and its allies, were crippled by Israel’s military response to Hamas attacks in October 2023. The removal of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has also upended Iran’s foreign policy as it struggles to keep the lights on for industry and households amid a major fuel and gas crisis.

“The process of lifting restrictions in cyberspace will be multi-stage and ongoing, and will not be limited to lifting restrictions on one or a few platforms,” ​​IRNA said.

Iranians have often been subjected to complete internet blackouts, including during the November 2019 protests and the 2022 nationwide uprising, prompting the US government at the time to ease restrictions on Internet services for Iran, such as Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Washington-based Freedom House said Iran ranked among the world’s three least free countries in terms of internet access — behind China and Myanmar — in its annual Internet Freedom Index.