Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, led by James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), is urging the Administration to strengthen programs that help Iranians maintain access to the internet. The call comes as widespread protests continue across Iran and the regime enforces digital blackouts to limit communication and suppress dissent. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) also joined the effort, sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighting the urgency of expanding internet freedom initiatives.

The senators stressed the critical role of programs such as the Near East Regional Democracy program, the Open Technology Fund, and other State Department initiatives in providing virtual private networks (VPNs) and anti-censorship tools to Iranians. They noted that during recent conflicts, U.S.-supported VPNs allowed citizens to bypass government-imposed blackouts, exposing disinformation and giving the world a glimpse of on-the-ground realities. The letter warns that funding cuts threaten these programs, which could leave millions of Iranians without secure access to information.

“Supporting the Iranian people’s access to information is not a partisan issue but a matter of national security,” the senators wrote, citing the regime’s nuclear ambitions, regional threats, and military cooperation with Russia as reasons the U.S. must pair diplomatic and economic pressure with internet freedom support. They called for immediate resource surges to keep these programs operational and ensure Iranians retain a critical channel for communication. You can read the letter HERE.