Lieberman, McCain, Graham Announce Legislation on Information and Internet Freedom in Iran
Senators Pledge to Strengthen Broadcasts to Iran, Help Iranian People Find Freedom Online
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced today that they will introduce bipartisan legislation after the July 4 recess to expand television and radio broadcasting into Iran and prevent the Iranian regime from slamming shut the virtual door to the rest of the world provided by the Internet.
Over the last two weeks, the Iranian regime has worked aggressively to stop its citizens from getting uncensored information about what is happening inside their country, and to prevent them from exercising their fundamental rights to free speech and free assembly online. The Iranian regime continues to jam satellite and radio broadcasts, disrupt cell phone service, monitor Internet use, and block websites.
The legislation that Senators McCain, Lieberman, and Graham announced will help counter the regime’s efforts by increasing support for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s Farsi-language radio station, Radio Farda, and the Voice of America’s Persian News Network. The legislation will also provide the Iranian people with access to other information technologies to ensure Iranians access to the Internet, including social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and cellular phone networks.
The Senators expressed their hope that such funding would help facilitate greater engagement and direct dialogue between ordinary Iranians and Americans.
“This legislation has a clear and simple purpose,” said Senator Lieberman. “We want to give the Iranian people the chance to stay one step ahead of their regime by gaining access to information and exercising their right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly online.”
“Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed extraordinary courage of the Iranian people, millions of whom have taken to the streets of their cities in peaceful protest. But we’ve also witnessed the sheer thuggery of the Iranian regime, which has unleashed a campaign of violence, intimidation, and a crackdown in cyberspace on the airwaves against these peaceful demonstrators,” said Senator McCain. “In the weeks ahead we look forward to working with our colleagues on developing legislation to help ensure the Iranian people can get access to the unbiased, uncensored news, information, and communications technologies that they obviously want, and that the Iranian regime so obviously wants to deny them.”
“This is a regime that will rig elections, kick out the media, shut down the Internet, shoot young girls in the streets, send IEDs to Iraq to kill coalition forces, and fund Hezbollah and Hamas which are bent on the destruction of Israel,” said Senator Graham. “This legislation increases the chances the truth will penetrate Iran. The truth will set the Iranian people free. I hope that we can, as Republicans and Democrats, understand not only the limitations we may have as a nation, but the obligations we have as the leader of the free world.”
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