OFAC and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS") reviewed the exemptions and authorizations related to the provision of internet and telecommunications services to Cuba. In a Fact Sheet, the agencies highlighted the violence and repression that followed democratic protests by Cuban citizens in July 2021, and measures taken by the Cuban government "to curb the flow of information over the Internet."
OFAC and BIS explained that they administer an economic embargo on Cuba under OFAC's Cuban Assets Control Regulations ("CACR") and related BIS regulations, but allow for activities that support the Cuban people's access to information on the Internet.
Through general licenses, exemptions and FAQs, OFAC maintains provisions that support Internet freedom in Cuba and the "Cuban people's right to seek, receive, and impart information through safe and secure access to the Internet," including:
- software services for Cuban Internet users, including fee-based Internet communications services (e.g., email, messaging platforms and social networking), under CACR 515.578 ("Exportation, reexportation, and importation of certain internet-based services; importation of software") and 515.533 ("Exportations from the United States to Cuba; reexportations to Cuba; importation and servicing or repair of certain items previously exported or reexported to Cuba") and FAQs 785 and 787;
- telecommunications services (e.g., internet connectivity, data and telephone) and the establishment of telecommunications facilities linking the United States or other countries and Cuba, under CACR 515.542 ("Mail and telecommunications-related transactions") and FAQ 784;
- the in-country physical and business presence of Internet and telecommunications providers (e.g., leasing physical premises, and establishing subsidiaries and branches), under CACR 515.573 ("Physical presence and business presence in Cuba authorized; Cuban news bureaus") and FAQs 765 and 788;
- Internet-based distance learning and courses with content at the undergraduate level or below, under CACR 515.565 ("Educational activities") and FAQ 702; and
- the importation and exportation of information and informational materials, "regardless of format or medium of transmission," under CACR 515.206(a) ("Exempt transactions: information and informational materials") and 515.545 ("Transactions related to information and informational materials") and FAQ 710.
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