Apple is facing increasing demands to do more for Iranian protestors

As protests in Iran intensify, satellite technology has become one of the only ways for people in the country to circumvent a total internet blackout and heavy restrictions on phone service. Now, as a number of people in the country turn to SpaceX—the company now providing free access to Starlink—there are growing calls for Apple to get involved, too.

At least one member of Congress has now reached out to Apple urging the company to turn on satellite texting in Iran. The office of Rep. Buddy Carter, a Republican from Georgia, confirmed to Fast Company that they’d been in touch with Apple about opening up satellite messaging—which lets iPhone users send messages even when there is no wifi or cellular service—in the country, though they didn’t say what response, if any, they might have received from the company. That outreach comes after, on Wednesday, Carter called on the company to do so publicly. 

“Apple, the leading phone brand in the world, must enable satellite messaging for Iran so they can message family and report atrocities being committed by the Iranian regime,” said Carter in a social media post.

Some activists have called for Apple to turn on satellite-based messaging, a service that the company is quickly rolling out. One of these calls, which as of Thursday night racked up nearly half a million views on X, reads: “During this nationwide blackout, the brutal killing of civilians has started in the past 24 hours. We urgently call on Apple to enable Satellite Messaging for users inside Iran, or confirm whether the service is already active and functioning without interference.”

“Communication is a lifeline. Lives depend on it,” the person added.

It isn’t immediately clear if this is something Apple can do, or what Apple might have already turned on in Iran. Apple did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Globalstar, the satellite telecommunications company that supports Apple’s satellite-based texting service, did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. 

They’re expensive, but iPhones are used throughout Iran, and the government recently lifted restrictions on newer models. Still, Apple’s website says that the satellite-based texting feature is currently only available to people in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Japan, assuming they’re using an iPhone 14 or a newer model. Apple also offers another satellite-based service, called Emergency SOS, for texting emergency services, though, again, Iran isn’t one of the countries where it’s available. 

When asked about SpaceX and Starlink, a spokesperson for the State Department Fast Company on Wednesday, the administration “is committed to helping to preserve and protect the free flow of information by the most effective means to the people of Iran in the face of the Iranian regime’s brutal repression.” 

But the spokesperson did not address Fast Company’s follow up questions about outreach to Apple, specifically. Neither did Florida Senator Rick Scott, who commended SpaceX for making Starlink available in Iran earlier this week. 

“I would welcome anything — anything from any company, any government— that can help people to send even one byte of data,” Amir Rashidi, who focused on internet security and digital rights at the Miaan Group, which has been tracking the communications blackout in Iran, to Fast Company earlier this week.