Six Questions About Jamming

The issue of jamming is not a matter of yesterday or the day before; since satellite dishes found their place on the rooftops and balconies of Iranian homes, the topic of jamming waves has been under discussion, and with two London-based networks and their continued operation, it has become more prominent in news reports, but at least what is being seen and heard today has roots in the serious attention of the eleventh government to addressing this matter.

It was Sunday, the 9th of Azar 1393, and a working breakfast at the Chamber of Commerce; Mahmoud Vaezi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, among bites of bread, cheese, butter and honey, announced news that many are still waiting for, hoping that with results, they too would receive something as sweet as honey. The Minister announced a special order from the President to four cabinet members regarding the investigation of jamming waves and their dangers and threats to citizens’ health.

The next morning (10th of Azar 93), a photograph of four cabinet members on the front page of the government newspaper, full-length, reported on a mission that carried the order of the head of government; Ali Akbar Salehi, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization, Mahmoud Vaezi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Seyyed Hassan Hashemi, Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, and Hossein Dehghan, Minister of Defense.

Let me say here that this order and this case and this article do not deny the illegality of satellite use according to parliament’s decision, nor do they deny the responsibility of law enforcement in dealing with and collecting dishes, but what should be done with this statement: “Now that collecting them has not given the desired result and citizens, though illegally, still use satellites, should they pay the price with dangerous jamming waves?!”

In investigating Dr. Rouhani’s special order, two points were evident; first, that the government is not involved in sending waves and perhaps opposes this occurrence, and second, that one should not ignore a history such as Masoumeh Ebtekar’s reminders, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, and warnings from health-related organizations about the increase in cancer prevalence, birth defects, and increasing headaches and migraines among citizens.

That order and that case and that news and those photographs on the cover of Azar 93 remained in that same Azar 93 and became no news until one or two months recently, when videos of Shiraz residents gathering in front of the Fars Province Governorate in protest of jamming spread across mobile social networks, and statements from officials brought these waves to the news.

The most prominent statement, most recently, came from the Minister of Communications and Information Technology during a trip to Bushehr Province and in Ganaveh port (Tuesday, 12 Bahman 95), where he spoke about people’s concerns regarding jamming transmission: “Investigations have been conducted in this field and the results have been reported to the President. Also, a committee consisting of this ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization has been activated to monitor the presence of jamming.”

These statements had no difference from what he said 26 months earlier, except for one difference: “We assure the people that we will try to ensure that nowhere in the country is there jamming above the permitted level that would endanger people’s health.” And of course, this message was conveyed to the people that the government still opposes jamming and even its hand is too short to prevent its transmission, and its strength has reached only this point: to control its “level,” not its existence or non-existence.

Now we face two situations; first, that dishes are on the rooftops, albeit illegal, and second, that waves are in the air, albeit invisible and unofficial.

Perhaps jamming can be understood from an angle similar to the filtering of some websites, which is very good. In many countries that claim freedom, filtering and censorship also exist; especially filters blocking children’s and adolescents’ access to immoral websites.

Now that there are both dishes and jamming, some questions;

First) Why does jamming exist only during limited hours and does not include the time for repeat broadcasts of programs that, for example, had jamming the previous night?! That is, in certain hours it is problematic and in other hours it is not?!

Second) Why does jamming only target television antennas while the same programs, even during the same hours, are viewable without filtering on the mobile applications of the same networks?! That is, watching on television is problematic but watching on mobile is not?!

Third) Why does jamming affect only certain networks and does not include networks that have similar content opposing the system and our territorial and value interests?!

Fourth) Why does jamming not target networks whose series have targeted the foundation of people’s morality, family, religion and faith?! Do we not have enough divorce and infidelity cases in the judiciary where spouses’ statements show the destructive effect of the crude content of those series and programs on their relationships and lives?!

Fifth) Why does jamming only affect certain cities and their residents and there is no jamming news in smaller cities?! That is, watching those programs is problematic for Tehran and Isfahan and Shiraz residents but not for residents of smaller cities?!

Sixth) Is there a budget allocated for citizens’ health to compensate for the destructive threats of jamming exposure, equivalent to the budget allocated for sending jamming?! I have seen, for example, that milk rations are given to airport employees to compensate for the harms of breathing the polluted air of airports from aircraft fuel.

There are many questions and few answers. People look to the government of management and hope with hope. No one is satisfied with illegality just as no one is satisfied with the destruction of their own and their family’s thoughts and morals. So we hope for a management that bridges these two statements.

Source: Chekhabar