How American Economic Sanctions Are Hurting Innocent Students in Iran, Cuba, & Sudan

The United States frequently fancies itself a defender of online freedom, serving up stern words to regimes which censor and control the Internet. So it was a little awkward, when students in Iran, Cuba, Sudan, and Syria suddenly found themselves disconnected from Coursera, a popular U.S. provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs) not by a dictator's whim, but because of American economic sanctions which prevent the export of “services” to blacklisted countries.