Congresswoman Tenney Leads Letter Urging Companies to Expand Access to Communications Services for Iranian Protestors

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) yesterday led a letter with Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07) urging companies to expand access to key communications services, like cloud and hosting services, messaging platforms, developer and analytics tools, and access to app stores, for the Iranian people amid a government crackdown on protestors across the country. The letter was sent to the Chief Executive Officers of Google, Amazon Web Services, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Digital Ocean.

The letter was also signed by Senators Robert Menendez (NJ), Marsha Blackburn (TN), and Ben Cardin (MD), and Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Andy Kim (NJ-03), and Katie Porter (CA-45).

After 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested by the “morality police” for violating the country’s strict dress codes and later dying in custody, likely as a result of being beaten, protestors took to the streets to demand their freedom. The Iranian regime has once again violently cracked down on protesters, with at least 233 protestors now having been killed by Iranian security forces. The regime also has triggered widespread Internet blackouts to block communications, effectively stopping the protestors from communicating with each other or with the outside world.

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