UN Agency Urged to Press Tehran on Internet Restrictions

Fourteen civil society organizations and advocates for an open and accessible internet have urged the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies to take a “proactive stance against the Internet censorship and repression practiced by the Iranian government.”

In an open letter addressed to Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the activists expressed their deep concern about the ITU’s October 2023 decision that the Iranian authorities had provided sufficient evidence that Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran were being used illegally by Iranians.

The US satellite internet service Starlink helps Iranians circumvent the government's restrictions on accessing the web.

The ITU’s decision, the letter reads, “offends goals of the ITU, including efforts to attain ‘meaningful connectivity’ and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and overlooks the broader implications of Iran’s restrictive Internet policies, which violate the rights of millions of Iranians to access information and communicate freely.”

The ITU must impose penalties to the Islamic Republic for its actions undermining the principle of an open internet, including shutdowns or disruptions, and actively collaborate with civil society organizations and human rights advocates working on this issue. 

The signatories of the letters include PEN America, the Center For Human Rights in Iran and Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.