Social network websites limitations based on USA sanctions

Question

I live in a country that has been blacklisted under United States sanction regulation. I've got free membership in DeviantArt.Com (A community website for sharing artworks [Photographs, painting, drawings, writings and etc. Something kind of similar to Instagram] around the world.) After the last USA presidential election, DeviantArt.Com (Abbrv. as D.A.) blocked my country's IPs to access their accounts. To be specific, my account is still there & my membership is not cancelled but I can view website's contents as a guest, only. No sign in/up is allowed & D.A. assistansts, in response to my complaining email, wrote that its due to United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanction regulations.

I understand what they say but what I do not understand is that why similar websites & networks (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Google Photos, Flickr, Pinterest and etc.) can give free membership-based services without any sanction limitations but this certain D.A. website cannot do the same?

Answer 1

It probably has to do with the sophistication and risk tolerance of the organization in question. Larger companies will typically have bigger legal teams that can better identify truly risky behavior.

For example, Executive Order 13685 blocks certain trade with Crimea:

Section 1. (a) The following are prohibited: ... (iii) the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of any goods, services, or technology to the Crimea region of Ukraine;

Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, all it takes is an executive order to do this sort of thing.

There's a list of active sanctions against Iran here.