I recently discovered the excellent Free Speech Debate project website. Below is an excerpt from an interview FSD had with Ben Roome, head of media relations at Nokia Siemens Networks, about the company’s regret over the sale of communications technology to the Iranian government, which was used to spy on its citizens during the disputed 2009 election, and changes since then:
“I think that telecoms providers…just provide what countries and states require them to provide. They have not been in the habit of making a judgment call on how that technology may be used.” Since 2009, however, Nokia Siemens has introduced a due diligence process to vet all government sales to ensure misuse does not occur. Asked whether the company sells technology to Syria, Bahrain or Yemen, Roome says: “I would need to check exactly what our situation is.”
