GitHub blocks users from countries with US trade embargo

GitHub blocks the pages of users from countries to which the United States has imposed a trade embargo. Developers from Crimea, Cuba, Iran or Syria can only use a limited number of functions of the service.

A developer from Crimea explains on his page how all the projects he hosts on GitHub are no longer available. He hosted several games on the platform and websites hosted on GitHub are also unreachable. Users affected by the embargo will still be able to create public, but not private repos. They can also no longer access their older, own repos; that applies to the web interface as well as via git.

GitHub blocks repos from countries with which the United States has a trade ban. In addition to users in Crimea, this also concerns North Korea, Syria and Cuba. A developer from Iran also says that his account is blocked. Users who experience a restriction on their account will be notified that it is ‘due to restrictions in US trade law’. GitHub directs users to a special page on the subject and says developers can object.

It seems that GitHub is blocking developers based on the nationality they have specified in their profile and not based on geolocation or IP addresses. GitHub CEO Nat Friedman acknowledges on Twitter that GitHub blocks certain projects. “It pains me to hear how trade embargoes affect people. GitHub must comply with US trade laws, just like any company in this country.”