(PatriotPostNews.com) – The European Union has lifted human rights sanctions on Iran’s censoring IT company, ArvanCloud, despite objections from Iranian democracy groups.
Less than two years after imposing them, the Council of the European Union withdrew its sanctions on ArvanCloud on April 4th without providing any justification. Speaking to RFE/RL in the late hours of April 8, the EU official confirmed the decision.
U.S. and British sanctions are still in place on the firm.
Protests were at their peak in November 2022, when the European Union sanctioned ArvanCloud for what was said to be involvement in Internet censorship and efforts of the Iranian government to shut down the Internet.
Iran has put a thorough censorship mechanism in place since 2002. Major social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and tens of thousands of other websites have been blocked. Books, films, and traditional media channels are also heavily censored. Much censorship and monitoring of religious and political speech have taken place.
An EU official said the decision was based on the confidential deliberations and assessments in the relevant council bodies, omitting any reference to the legal matter.
Critics are furious with the EU for what they see as a lack of openness.
Mahsa Alimardani, a senior program officer for the Middle East and North Africa at Article 19, a rights group located in the UK, expressed grave concern that there was very little public transparency over the process or the opportunity for civil society to get involved.
Alimardani said that Article 19 had independently verified a document that showed the Iranian government, headed by hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, backed ArvanCloud’s legal action.
Washington states it has no plans to delist ArvanCloud, saying it will remain sanctioned by the United States for its precise role in facilitating censorship to the detriment of the people of Iran.
Many of the most significant websites of the Islamic Republic, such as the Presidency, the IRNA news agency, and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance, continue to be hosted by ArvanCloud, which owns 49% of Iran’s cloud space market.
Copyright 2024, PatriotPostNews.com
