Iranian authorities have lifted a ban on Meta’s instant messaging platform WhatsApp and Google Play as a first step to scale back internet restrictions.

Iran's government on Tuesday said it had lifted a ban on access to WhatsApp and Google Play after more than two years, the official IRNA news agency reported. The report said the country’s Supreme Council of Cyber Space made the decision in a meeting led by reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian,

Iranian authorities remove restrictions on Meta's messaging platform WhatsApp and on Google Play, marking an initial move to ease internet limitations.

Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace on Dec 24 approved the lifting of blocks on certain widely used foreign platforms. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Allowing the use of WhatsApp and Google Play is the "first step in removing internet limitations," according to Iranian officials. The country still enforces draconian internet controls.

The move has sparked a debate in Iran, with critics of the restrictions arguing the controls were costly for the country

The Supreme Cyberspace Council, which is tasked with safeguarding the internet for Iranian citizens, voted unanimously to lift restrictions on a number of foreign-owned applications during a meeting today,

In September the United States called on Big Tech to help evade online censorship in countries that heavily censor the internet, including Iran.