Committee to Protect Journalists expresses concern: Iranian parliament advances "Protection" bill

The US-based non-governmental organization Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement expressing concern over the actions of the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly to advance a plan to restrict the internet.

The committee stated in its statement that the Iranian parliament is advancing a plan to restrict the internet despite opposition from citizens and international observers.

According to news reports, the bill "Protecting the Rights of Cyberspace Users and Basic Functional Cyberspace Services" was being reviewed by a parliamentary subcommittee last month.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that, according to domestic news agencies, the bill is being reviewed in the Iranian parliament and is expected to be approved early next year. Referring to the imprisonment of journalists and media activists in Iran, the Committee to Protect Journalists says that some of them, like Mehrnoush Tafian, have been imprisoned for posts they wrote on social media.

Mahsa Alimardani, an ARTICLE 19 researcher, told the Committee to Protect Journalists via Zoom that the "Syanat" plan is a threat to journalism in Iran and could potentially allow the government to control the information that journalists have access to more than before.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has reviewed the draft of this Internet-restricting legislation, which was published a few months ago.

The committee says its review of that draft shows that it strengthens the government's legal authority to block websites and platforms operated by foreign technology companies without a domestic representative in Iran.

The committee, citing Article 19, a free speech advocacy group, notes that U.S. sanctions also prevent U.S.-based companies from establishing offices in Iran. A review of the draft resolution also found that people would have to register information that could identify them in order to access the Internet.

According to The Iran Primer, a project of the United States Institute of Peace, the plan, called "Protect...", is part of a campaign to create a closed national intranet under government control.

With the coming to power of a conservative-controlled parliament and the government of hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, efforts to restrict people inside Iran's access to the internet have also intensified by the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, who called him one of the "predators of media freedom"
The aforementioned has repeatedly called for restrictions on the Internet, especially social networks. Years ago, before the Internet became widespread in Iran, he had expressed his opposition to satellites and the people's uncensored access to the free flow of information and radio and television programs that are not subject to government censorship, and had called for measures to be taken to block people's access to satellite programs.

The approval of the so-called "Protection" plan is cited as the implementation of one of Ayatollah Khamenei's main personal demands.

Source: Voice of America