Overview
- Planet Labs, which notified customers Saturday, will stop publishing high-resolution pictures of war-hit areas in the Middle East until further notice after a U.S. government request.
- The firm has moved to controlled access retroactive to March 9, with releases only in rare cases that meet urgent needs or a clear public interest.
- Planet Labs said the curb aims to block groups such as Iran and Hezbollah from using recent satellite views to plan strikes against the United States or its allies.
- Other providers are tightening access too, with Vantor saying it had no direct contact from Washington but has imposed extra limits on parts of the region.
- U.S. law allows national-security limits on commercial imagery, a shift that now reduces how journalists and researchers verify damage and track battlefield changes.