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Good morning from the newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Monday, January 20th. Good morning from the newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Monday, January 20th, and this is your FT news briefing.

First, tech companies funded by the US government

have been helping Iranian anti-regime protesters. And now there's been an increase in

the use of circumvention software in the country. Next, officials in Brussels are concerned

by the UK's latest promise to break away from EU rules after Brexit.

Then SpaceX could launch NASA astronauts into space as soon as March.

Plus the F.T.'s Andrew Edgcliffe Johnson explains how climate change in big tech will drive the agenda at Davos this year.

I'm Mark Filipino and here's the news you need to start your day.

Since the Iranian protests in 2018, the U.S. has been working more to provide citizens with

options on how they communicate with each other and with the outside world.

That's according to what a State Department official told the F.T.

That help included giving people the tools to get around the government censorship efforts.

U.S. government-funded tech companies have been providing apps and servers, installing

anti-tracking software, and helping people to navigate data shutdowns.

And it turns out these tech companies have seen an increase in the amount Iranians are using

this circumvention software in the last few weeks.

One company that provides a way to get around firewalls to reach Western servers said it saw a 25% jump in January. That coincided with the

US assassination of Iranian general Kasam Solemani, causing Iran to retaliate

...