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OPINION:
Three years ago, in the wake of the murder by Iranian “morality police” of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for improper wearing of her hijab, the Iranian people flooded the streets to stand in opposition to their authoritarian regime and demand freedom.
Panicked, the Iranian government shut down the internet to crush the protests in darkness, but it was too late. Virtual private networks funded by the U.S. helped sustain the protests for months, allowing the world to see women and girls removing their hijabs in bold defiance.
At the height of these demonstrations, 1 in 4 Iranian adults were using a VPN supported by the U.S. government to access the uncensored internet despite the regime’s desperate attempts to keep citizens isolated.
It was the most widespread uprising in Iran since the Islamic Revolution — until now.
The Iranian people have again taken to the streets to demand freedom, with millions across the country risking their lives in hopes of a better future. Overwhelmed and desperate, the Iranian regime has once again shut down the internet, casting the country into darkness to crack down violently on its own citizens.
This is the most aggressive and comprehensive shutdown the Iranian regime has ever implemented. Rather than simply disconnecting from the global internet, the regime has also cut domestic internet and cellular data connections. This desperate decision comes at a significant cost to Iran’s already beleaguered economy, which is losing more than $1.5 million every hour the shutdown continues.
The Iranian regime fears nothing more than its own citizens empowered with information. This historic shutdown is the regime’s last-ditch effort to prevent that.
Despite the ayatollahs’ best efforts, Iranians are still reporting, organizing and sharing information with the outside world, thanks to years of sustained and strategic U.S. government investments. In Congress, we have championed these efforts to counter digital authoritarianism with the types of ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that make our nation so great.
In 2021, we led the enactment of the Open Technology Fund Authorization Act, which authorized a dedicated U.S. government-funded technology incubator to make strategic, targeted investments in the development of innovative technologies capable of circumventing even the most sophisticated authoritarian censorship.
In the intervening years, the Open Technology Fund has had enormous success, working at the speed of private industry to ensure that people living under repressive regimes can learn the truth.
Today, more than 2 billion people worldwide rely on technologies supported by the Open Technology Fund to freely and safely access the global internet. These tools have become critical information lifelines for those living under repressive regimes, enabling them to fight for freedom and hold their governments to account.
They have allowed journalists in China to report safely about Uyghur detentions; they have helped Russian civilians access trusted, uncensored news about the full-scale war in Ukraine; and they have enabled Cubans to mobilize to protest their government’s human rights abuses.
Rarely has an authoritarian regime taken the kinds of truly drastic measures we are seeing in Iran today: pulling the plug on the internet entirely.
We were prepared for this. The Open Technology Fund has been supporting a portfolio of shutdown mitigation tools that were designed and built to work when authoritarians disconnect their countries from the global internet. With the lessons of previous Iranian shutdowns in hand, datacasting and decentralized messaging have enabled vital civil society networks to receive information from abroad and coordinate and communicate internally.
Amid the shutdown, these tools are among the only sources securely providing Iranians with the information they need, including daily, uncensored news about the protests and the regime’s response, up-to-date safety and emergency medical guidance, and digital security and app updates.
Without these tools, Iranian citizens would be left in the dark, lacking accurate information about the scale of the protests, the regime’s violent response and messages of support from the United States. These tools have also ensured that the Iranian people can continue to tell their stories, share verified videos and report on arrests and casualties to hold the regime accountable.
Now is not the time to constrain President Trump’s ability to get crucial information to the Iranian people. As the administration reorients U.S. global broadcasting to ensure it serves America’s interests first, we are hopeful that the U.S. Agency for Global Media will fully use the Open Technology Fund and its suite of capabilities.
As the past week has proved, support for global internet freedom is an “America First,” commonsense, cost-efficient solution that makes our nation safer. At a fraction of the cost authoritarians spend, the U.S. government has successfully countered censorship in support of free expression, maintaining a competitive advantage against our adversaries.
Congress must continue to do everything in its power to safeguard these critical tools and stand for freedom.
• Sen. Marsha Blackburn is the senior U.S. senator for Tennessee. Rep. Michael McCaul represents Texas’ 10th Congressional District and is chairman emeritus of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees.
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