Tech Desk 
Dec 25, 2024
Months after banning the renowned social media platform nationwide, the Iranian authorities on Tuesday lifted the ban on WhatsApp while also easing access to Google Play.
In September this year, both the Meta-owned instant messaging platform and Google-owned app marketplace were banned in Iran after the US urged tech giants to assist it bypass online censorship in countries enforcing stringent measures to monitor content on the internet.
According to Reuters, Iran is among the countries that impose the most internet restrictions; however, citizens eager to access US-based social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube easily bypass these bans using virtual private networks (VPNs).
"A positive majority vote has been reached to lift limitations on access to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play", IRNA reported on Tuesday, referring to a meeting on this matter with President Masoud Pezeshkian in the chair.
"Today the first step in removing internet limitations... has been taken," the Iranian state's official news outlet quoted Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology Sattar Hashemi as saying.
The ban was purportedly put in place following considerable use of social media in anti-government protests in Iran.
