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by miracle2k 2552 days ago
I'll note again the snowball effect that the Google Cloud block has (Google Cloud totally blocks Iran on a network level).

Now, your services that you host on Google Cloud are not available. Say you are Gitlab, and you host there (they do!). Now, if you put your Open Source project on Gitlab, that project is not accessible to Iranians either (as well as other sanctioned countries).

As someone you spends a couple of weeks every year in Iran, I can tell you that arbitrary websites breaking because of blocks on the US side have a far worse effect on my ability to work then the fact that Facebook and Twitter is blocked.

Why doesn't the documentation for date-fns work? Oh, they load the data from Firebase.

Why can't I compile by Android app? Oh, the Android repository is hosted on Google Cloud.

Etc.

3 comments

At work we ran G-Suite. Lead Dev went to Cuba for a holiday and was not able to use any of the services.

Great for him, not so good for a couple of angry customers that got no answers to emails.

He set an out of office but also said to those customer that he would reply to any queries ... oops

The gmail app doesn't complain that it can't connect to its servers?
I'm guessing the dev quickly noticed the lack of connectivity and may have tried some obvious things to change his autoreply message, but those things didn't work and he & his company deemed it not worth it to try further.
...this sounds like a problem with centralizing the whole internet onto two or three servers -- excuse me, clouds.
Sure, true point. Internet is meant to support freedom
Google Safety & Security Blog: An update on state-sponsored activity (2018) ...

Detecting and terminating activity on Google properties

"Actors engaged in this type of influence operation violate our policies, and we swiftly remove such content from our services and terminate these actors’ accounts. Additionally, we use a number of robust methods, including IP blocking, to prevent individuals or entities in Iran from opening advertising accounts."

https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/update-st...

This doesn't really have anything to do with what I posted.
It has to do with why Iranian IPs are being blocked by Google.
No. It's because of the chilling effect of US sanctions.

Your explanation makes no sense - state hackers are not foiled by an IP block.