Iran’s Cyberspace Council approves lifting restrictions on the use of WhatsApp in the country

The Iranian authorities restrictions on use have been lifted of the Meta instant messaging platform, WhatsApp and Google Play, as a first step to reduce internet restrictions, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.

The Islamic Republic has some of the strictest internet access controls in the worldbut its blocks on US-based companies’ social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using virtual private networks.

“A positive majority has been reached to lift access limitations to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play,” the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported this Tuesday, referring to a meeting on the issue headed by President Masoud. Pezeshkian.

“Today the first step has been taken to eliminate Internet limitations…”, IRNA said, quoting Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Sattar Hashemi.

Social media platforms were widely used in anti-government protests in Iran.

In September, the United States asked big tech companies to help evade censorship in countries that intensely control the internet, including Iran.