Congresswoman Tenney Leads Letter Urging Companies to Expand Access to Communications Services for Iranian Protestors

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) yesterday led a letter with Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07) urging companies to expand access to key communications services, like cloud and hosting services, messaging platforms, developer and analytics tools, and access to app stores, for the Iranian people amid a government crackdown on protestors across the country. The letter was sent to the Chief Executive Officers of Google, Amazon Web Services, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Digital Ocean.

The letter was also signed by Senators Robert Menendez (NJ), Marsha Blackburn (TN), and Ben Cardin (MD), and Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Andy Kim (NJ-03), and Katie Porter (CA-45).

After 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested by the “morality police” for violating the country’s strict dress codes and later dying in custody, likely as a result of being beaten, protestors took to the streets to demand their freedom. The Iranian regime has once again violently cracked down on protesters, with at least 233 protestors now having been killed by Iranian security forces. The regime also has triggered widespread Internet blackouts to block communications, effectively stopping the protestors from communicating with each other or with the outside world.

In part, the lawmakers wrote, “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.”

In September, Congresswoman Tenney led a letter with Congressman Malinowski asking the Treasury Department to approve any license requests it received to ensure entities can rapidly deploy communications services and Internet access to the Iranian people amid ongoing protests and the regime’s widespread and deliberate Internet blackouts. She also introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution, which commends the Iranian people protesting against gross human rights abuses and in support of freedom and urges the Biden administration to continue to impose human rights sanctions, prioritize efforts to expand internet access in Iran, and work to develop a strategy to prevent the Iranian regime from obtaining and exploiting facial recognition data and software for the use of mass surveillance and enforcement of mandatory hijab.

The full letter is available here.

Dear Mr. Pichai, Jassy, Cook, Zuckerberg, Nadella, and Spruill:

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[i] in response to congressional calls to expand unrestricted internet access in Iran, particularly censorship circumvention technologies. While we appreciate some of the steps your companies have taken, we believe your companies can be more proactive in acting pursuant to the broad authorization provided in GLD-2. We ask that you work expeditiously to ensure these technologies, which would be the most useful to Iranians, get consideration:

• Cloud & 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.

We encourage you to take advantage of GLD-2 and engage directly with the Department of the Treasury to understand fully the licensed activities under the GLD-2. We also ask that you identify and share any obstacles that remain to providing communications services and tools (software or hardware) to Iranians in Iran, whether in law, policy, or the business environment. Iranians are fearlessly risking their lives for their fundamental rights and dignity. Your tools and services may be vital in their efforts to pursue these aspirations, and the United States should continue to make every effort to assist them.

Sincerely,

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