Iran’s government has faced criticism for years from ordinary Iranians, Western governments, the United Nations, and political activists for its draconian attitude toward the internet.

Iranian authorities have lifted a ban on Meta’s instant messaging platform WhatsApp and Google Play as a first step to scale back internet restrictions.

Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace on Dec 24 approved the lifting of blocks on certain widely used foreign platforms. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The move has sparked a debate in Iran, with critics of the restrictions arguing the controls were costly for the country

Iran is known for having some of the strictest internet rules across the world. Further, the Iranian authorities have blocked access to US-based social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.