Biden Administration Converts License for Iranian Access to Internet Services into Government Regulation

The United States government states that it will convert a general license regarding access to internet services for Iranians into one of its regulations. This means an elevation of the legal status of these exemptions for Iranian citizens. According to a U.S. State Department official, the U.S. government has been in contact and dialogue with various technology and internet groups over the past two years, and these companies have requested a 'more secure' and 'more predictable' situation to provide services to Iranian users. Therefore, this official told Radio Farda that the government has decided to convert the General License D-2 into a government regulation, signaling that the government's policy in this area 'will remain steadfast.' The U.S. has issued a license for the expansion of internet services for Iranians, and these government regulations will be registered federally in the U.S., although they may be reviewed with a change of administration. In the midst of the crackdown on the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests in 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department issued this general license known as General License D-2. At that time, the U.S. also announced that this general license was issued to help the people of Iran in 'countering the regime's repressive internet censorship and surveillance tools.' Washington had previously issued general licenses in this area, but after the widespread internet shutdown in Iran during the protests, the U.S. decided to expand and clarify previous guidelines in various ways. The General License D-2 includes the expansion of access to social media platforms, collaboration platforms, video conferencing, computer games, virtual education platforms, automatic translation, mapping, and user identity verification services. U.S. actions for greater access to free internet for Iranians also include exemptions for the development of anti-censorship software. Washington claims that tens of millions of Iranians benefit from these services. Another example of services mentioned in this general license includes cloud software that has been exempted from sanctions. However, observers in this field believe that as long as Iranian users cannot afford to pay for the services of major technology companies like Google due to financial sanctions, the free services of these companies will only address a small part of these users' challenges. After the announcement of the issuance of General License D-2 in the U.S., Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, also announced the activation of Starlink services for Iran. In the two years since Starlink was activated for Iran, reports have emerged of the clandestine importation of Starlink terminals into Iran to cope with the complete internet shutdown, and the government has also reported on its countermeasures. Nevertheless, the main challenge for a large population of Iranians remains. Only Iranians outside the country's borders can facilitate financial transactions to purchase these services, while citizens inside Iran still lack access to the international financial system to be able to buy these services.