US gives Elon Musk the greenlit to activate Starlink internet

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been given the green light by the United States government to activate the satellite internet service Starlink to help Iranians protesting against the death of a woman in police custody.

Access to social media and some content is tightly restricted in Iran and significant internet outages were reported across the country on Saturday, with one of the biggest mobile phone operators disrupted, leaving millions of Iranians offline.

The US Treasury Department on Friday issued guidance expanding internet services available to Iranians despite US sanctions on the country.

The move follows deadly protests around Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died after being detained by “morality police” who questioned the way she was wearing her headscarf.

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Hundreds of angry demonstrators have been arrested with crowds taking to the streets of major cities across Iran for eight straight nights. State television said the number of deaths in “recent riots” had risen to 35, up from 17 previously, including at least five security personnel.

A US State Department spokesperson said the updated licence was self-executing and “anyone who meets the criteria outlined in this general license can proceed with their activities without requesting additional permissions”.

We took action today to advance Internet freedom and the free flow of information for the Iranian people, issuing a General License to provide them greater access to digital communications to counter the Iranian government’s censorship.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 23, 2022

However, he said on Monday the company wanted to provide the Starlink satellite broadband service – already provided to Ukraine for its fight against Russia’s invasion – to Iranians and would ask for a sanctions exception.

Iran has curbed access to social media networks Instagram and WhatsApp amid the protests, according to residents and internet watchdog NetBlocks.

Azadeh Akbari, from the University of Twente, said the digital shutdown in Iran is “a continuation of decades of internet filtering by the Iranian government”.

She gave examples of “keyboard filtering” and the arrest of journalists as a means of cracking down on access.