Facebook, Twitter become accessible to Iranian users

PanARMENIAN.Net - Facebook and Twitter became widely accessible to Iranian users on Monday, Sept 16, for the first time since 2009, when the services were blocked in the midst of widespread protests against former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Reuters.

Reporters in Tehran for the New York Times and the Washington Post both said on Twitter that they could access the service freely on Monday.

Jillian York, the director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties organization, said she had received multiple reports from citizens using several different Iranian Internet service providers confirming that the bans appeared to have been lifted.

"Some other blocked sites are reporting themselves unblocked - the National Iranian American council is reporting themselves unblocked as well," York said, referring to a U.S.-based nonprofit group.

Iranian authorities blacked out Facebook and Twitter in the summer of 2009, when Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election victory sparked massive protests that gained momentum with the help of organizers using social media.

The administration of the new president, the moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani who took office last month, has signaled - on social media, no less - that it will adopt a much different tack from that of its hardline predecessor.

Marking the Jewish New Year earlier this month, Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on their Twitter accounts to wish Jews a happy Rosh Hashanah.

No Iranian government statement about loosening the restrictions was reported on Monday.

Iran has a recent history of blocking and filtering access to Internet services and websites it deems offensive. The country has said several times that it’s planning to launch a nationwide intranet service that would offer users access to approved domestic services and cut off most or all foreign websites. The only other country to restrict users in such a fashion is North Korea.

The block of YouTube remains in place to this day. Iran has also been accused of jamming international satellite television broadcasts into the country.