US calls on Iran to unblock social media sites amid protests

Hamed Malekpour | AFP | Getty Images

Iranians chant slogans as they march in support of the government near the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in the capital Tehran on December 30, 2017. Tens of thousands of regime supporters marched in cities across Iran in a show of strength for the regime after two days of angry protests directed against the country’s religious rulers.

The Trump administration is calling on Iran’s government to stop blocking Instagram and other popular social media sites as Iranians are demonstrating in the streets.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein says the United States wants Iran to “open these sites.” He says Instagram, Telegram and other platforms are “legitimate avenues for communication.”

The United States is encouraging Iranians to use virtual private networks, known as VPNs. Those services create encrypted links between computers and can be used to access blocked websites.

Goldstein says the U.S. is still communicating with Iranians in Farsi through State Department accounts on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. He says the U.S. wants to “encourage the protesters to continue to fight for what’s right.”

Goldstein says the U.S. has an “obligation not to stand by.”