WHATSAPP SAYS IT IS WORKING TO KEEP IRANIANS CONNECTED

Thu 22 September 2022:

WhatsApp, a service provided by Meta Platforms Inc., announced on Thursday that it was working to keep users in Iran connected after that nation restricted access to both Instagram and the WhatsApp app, Reuters reported.

WhatsApp “will do anything” within its technical capacity to keep the service accessible and that it was not blocking Iranian phone numbers, the messaging service said in a tweet.

Iran on Wednesday restricted access to Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the last remaining social networks in the country, amid protests over the death of a woman in police custody, according to residents and internet watchdog NetBlocks.

Significant internet outages were also reported across the country, with one of the country’s largest mobile phone operators being knocked offline, stranding millions of Iranians.

NetBlocks also reported a “nation-scale loss of connectivity” on Iran’s main mobile telephone provider and another company’s network.

Without internet access, it is harder for people to post videos on social media to generate support for their cause or obtain reliable reports on what is happening.

The death last week of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran for “unsuitable attire,” has sparked outrage over issues such as freedom in the Islamic Republic and an economy reeling from sanctions.

Protesters in Tehran and other Iranian cities torched police stations and vehicles earlier on Thursday as public outrage over the death showed no signs of abating, with reports of security forces coming under attack.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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