American Senator: Big Tech Companies Like Google and Facebook Are Violating Sanctions

Mark Warner, a Democratic senator and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused American tech companies such as Alphabet (owner of Google) and Meta (owner of Facebook) of continuously violating U.S. sanctions in a letter to Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary. Warner wrote that the Treasury Department has failed to ensure compliance with sanctions in the digital advertising markets. He called for further action from the department to guarantee that large tech companies comply with sanctions against foreign companies advertising on their platforms. Neither of the two tech companies owning Google and Facebook has commented on this matter yet. According to Warner, these tech companies continue to provide IT services to sanctioned companies, including those in Russia and Iran. He referenced examples of Google ads for sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies, as well as ads by Elon Shour, a pro-Russian businessman, on Facebook. The Senate Intelligence Committee chairman provided examples of Google ads for sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies based on media reports from late 2023. Warner emphasized the importance of enforcing U.S. sanctions compliance, noting that the U.S. and many countries have elections this year. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury announced that a senior sanctions official traveled to Baghdad on Sunday. This trip comes as Washington seeks to counter the Iranian regime's efforts to evade sanctions in Iraq and align Iraq's financial sector with international standards. Earlier, on January 12, the U.S. Treasury stated that since the Iranian government's financial support for the Houthis has fueled their relentless attacks on global trade in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, four ships and two other companies would be added to the sanctions list. The U.S. and the U.K. sanctioned 11 individuals linked to the Iranian regime for 'transnational repression.' The senior Treasury official's trip to the Middle East aims to address 'sanctions evasion' by the Iranian regime. The U.S. and the U.K. also sanctioned four senior military officials of the Houthis and imposed new sanctions against Kata'ib Hezbollah in Iraq and Hamas, increasing pressure on the Quds Force of the IRGC.