US demands Iran end social media blocks

Iran has restricted access to some social media services since political unrest began in the country last week.

Social media

The United States has called for Iran to stop social media blocks in the country following days of political unrest. Source: AAP

The United States on Tuesday urged Iran to stop blocking online social media and advised its citizens to set up virtual private networks, or VPNs, to circumvent censorship.

Steve Goldstein, the State Department's under-secretary for public diplomacy, denounced Iran's attempts to restrict net access and urged Iranians to find a way to log in.

"People in Iran should be able to access these sites through VPN," he said, adding that the State Department's own Farsi language Facebook page has around 700,000 subscribers.

"The more available these sites are the better it is," he said, as street protests continued against what US President Donald Trump has branded Iran's "brutal and corrupt" regime.



Since the protests erupted, Iran has restricted some social media services like Instagram and Telegram that authorities fear will be used to spread news about the unrest.

Some other online services provided by US tech giants are unavailable in Iran because their parent firms are wary of falling afoul of economic sanctions targeting the regime.

But Goldstein said Washington believes that all Iranians should have access to non-government news and opinion, and urged them to listen to international broadcasters.

"We want to encourage the protesters to fight for what is right and to open up Iran," Goldstein told reporters.

"It's our strong desire that the Iranian government allow the protesters to dissent in peace."

Some observers warn Washington's public support for the right to oppose the Tehran government could tarnish the protest movement by making it appear like a foreign-backed plot.

But Goldstein insisted: "We have an obligation not to stand by. There's always that risk, but we're giving people vehicles to express their views where we can."


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP, SBS

Tags

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
US demands Iran end social media blocks | SBS News