The Obama administration has unveiled a new form of sanctions directed at authorities in Syria and Iran who use new technologies to target dissidents through the internet or their cell phones.
Reflecting the importance that social media have played in the Arab Spring and the 2009 Iranian protests, President Barack Obama said the new sanctions would focus on those “using technologies to monitor and track and target citizens for violence”.
Many of the entities and individuals listed in the new executive order, which was signed on Sunday, are already covered by existing sanctions. But some experts said that Monday’s announcement opened up a potentially important new tool to go after violators of human rights.