GitHub users in Iran, Syria, and Crimea can no longer access private repositories and have restrictions placed on their paid accounts, restrictions GitHub CEO Nat Friedman says were implemented due to sanctions imposed by the United States against those three countries.
Friedman explains on Twitter that users in affected countries will still have access to public repositories despite the sanctions. Likewise, any private repositories made public will then be accessible.
The thread notes that those restrictions are put in place based on place of residence and location, but the company has an appeals process set up for developers who believe their accounts have been limited in error.
As pointed out in an FAQ on GitHub's policies page, traveling to a restricted country could trigger those restrictions on private repositories, and would then require an appeal to lift.
“It is painful for me to hear how trade restrictions have hurt people,” tweeted Friedman. “We have gone to great lengths to do no more than what is required by the law, but of course people are still affected. GitHub is subject to US trade law, just like any company that does business in the US.”
We're not doing this because we want to; we're doing it because we have to. GitHub will continue to advocate vigorously with governments around the world for policies that protect software developers and the global open source community.
— Nat Friedman (@natfriedman) July 28, 2019