Request for help from Iranian tech activist
As Iranians and startup community members inside and outside Iran, we condemn the arrests of our friends and colleagues Aryan Eqbal, Adel Talebi, Maysam Rajabi, Mohsen Tahmasebi, Amir-Emad(Jadi) Mirmirani, and others.
They are entrepreneurs, technologists, and educators, not political activists. Iranian authorities arrested them to pressure them and others into silence about the vast internet censorship in Iran following the murder of #MahsaAmini and the ensuing unrest.
We all believe that an open and free internet is a right that is needed for both the general public and commerce. It has been a significant contention between users and government entities for a long time. We have all demanded a healthy, safe, and open internet in Iran, and now our colleagues who are advocating for such an internet are paying the price for it.
Instagram and Whatsapp, two of the most popular apps in Iran, have been blocked, as well as most popular email services and games. The iranian government has also disrupted internet protocols such as HTTPS since 21 Sep 2022, mainly due to their role as making secure connections for communication tools.
Thousands of companies that have used these tools as a shop front have lost customers and business, and millions of Iranians inside Iran have lost their connection to their loved ones. So far, the government has been reluctant to unblock Instagram and Whatsapp, citing that companies that do not abide by the Islamic Republic’s laws are unsuitable for users in Iran.
We call on the broader startup/tech colleagues worldwide to join us in solidarity, amplify the voices, calling for the freedom of those arrested, and expand efforts to have a healthy and open internet.
How you can help:
You can use your technical power and skills to increase access to safe circumvention tools for bypassing internet censorship. You can quickly run a Snowflake to provide secure internet through Tor to dozens of Iranians.
Those of you who work in big tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft can amplify Iranian tech prisoners’ voices and talk to your managers to start the implementation of GL-D2 as soon as possible.
Access to these infrastructures is essential for developing tools to bypass censorship and the hope and privacy of Iranian citizens.
We are fighting for women, life, and freedom, and we invite you to join us.
Signed by:
Asma Karoobi – CEO & Co-founder at VGANG
Milad Karbasizadeh
Mohsen Barati – software engineer
Mohsen Ahmadi – Product Manager, Startup Founder
Alireza Jozi – CEO
Gazelle Motia
Reihaneh Hajishirzi – Product Manager
Mohi Sanisel – Programs Lead @ DMZ – Toronto Metropolitan University
Ali Nikouei – Cyber Threat Hunter
Noah Dressie – Recruiter
Dawood Sajjadi – SRE Manager, Fortinet
Pooya Khaloo – Software engineer
Ali Salemi
Armita Nemati – Product owner
Monocle – Software engineer at Spotify
Yasi Sberns – Tech entrepreneur
Sanaz Esfahani – Product Owner
Al Kian – CEO
- Azad – Software Engineer
Hadi Nili
Laura Noshirwani
Reza Harimi – Software Consultant
Mojtaba Chenani – Senior software engineer
Shaghayegh Shayan – Student
Samira Nasiri – Software Engineer
Mehrdad Ahmadi – Senior iOS Developer @ Bell Canada
Milad Saberi – CEO of a tech company
Lily Moradirasouli – Software engineer
Ladan Fotouhi – Market Insights Lead
Raad Momeni
Mehdi Meskin – Product Manager
Hesam Ghoreishi
Hamed Jafari – Marketing Manager
Siavash Ghodsi Moghaddam – Product Manager
Amir Anbari – Digital librarian and Project Manager
Kowsar Shahbazi
Parham Nassiri – Salesforce Project Manager
Arash Abadpour – Staff Software Engineer
Matin Malwki
Soheil Alavi – CPO at Tribe Platform
هنوز نظری ثبت نشده است. شما اولین نظر را بنویسید.