Government criticism of creating restrictions in cyberspace
The government has issued a critical statement regarding restrictions on cyberspace. The statement addresses the principles of the government's policy and program in the field of cyberspace and emphasizes that easy, cheap, and secure access to information is a citizen's right.
According to ISNA, the Iranian Students News Agency, in a statement issued on Tuesday (May 1) by the Secretariat of the Government Information Council regarding the restrictions in cyberspace in Iran, it referred to "easy, cheap, and secure access to information and communications as one of the clear examples of citizen rights" and "... confronting any blockage or monopoly in the field of social networks."
This announcement, which was published a day after the Telegram filtering order was issued, also criticizes the judiciary's case-by-case decisions, stating: "Determining the task of public affairs, which is related to the needs and demands of tens of millions of citizens, cannot be based solely on judicial case-by-case judgments and decisions."
The announcement also emphasizes that “identifying national security threats, policymaking, and appropriate action are solely the responsibility of the Supreme National Security Council,” and that others are obligated to coordinate with this “supreme body.”
Rouhani's Communications Minister Criticizes Telegram Filtering
Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Hassan Rouhani's government, also criticized the filtering of the Telegram messenger in a tweet on Tuesday. Azari Jahromi said: "Technology in itself is neither criminal, corrupt, nor perverted."
The Minister of Communications' Twitter message states, among other things: "Citizens' access to information resources is unstoppable; even if the use of a software is stopped. Alternative software, identification, and the free flow of information will be active and circulating again. This is the nature and necessity of free access to information in the age of communications."
According to ISNA, the Iranian Students News Agency, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi further wrote: "Technology in itself is neither criminal, corrupt, nor perverted; it is humans who, by using it improperly, promote crime or corruption in the virtual life space."
On Monday (April 30), the investigator of the second branch of the Tehran Culture and Media Court issued a judicial order to filter Telegram. The order called the Telegram messenger a safe platform for committing various crimes.
The aforementioned prosecution has listed "types of crimes" in ten cases, including "propaganda against the Islamic Republic system," "actions against the country's security through terrorist groups," "insulting Islamic sanctities and values," and "inciting and seducing people to riot and chaos."
The spread of "corruption and prostitution," "smuggling of goods, currency, and drugs," or "fraud" on Telegram are other reasons cited for filtering this messenger.
The court order to filter Telegram comes at a time when many people see the filtering of Telegram as directly related to the nationwide protests of January 2017. At that time, Telegram was the most important messenger for the protesters.
During these protests, although Telegram was closed for a week, three-quarters of users bypassed this restriction with filter breakers. Information, videos, and photos published on Telegram from the nationwide protests were distributed inside and outside Iran, and were used by many media outlets around the world.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said in early April 2018 that the decision to filter Telegram was made at the "highest level" of Iranian governance and that it would be replaced by a "similar national system" by the end of April.
This similar national system is called “Soroush,” but it has not yet attracted the attention of citizens in different regions of Iran. Soroush currently has five million users, while the number of Telegram messenger users in Iran is 40 million.
Iran's Minister of Communications, who is the youngest minister in Hassan Rouhani's government, had previously admitted that there is no service similar to Telegram in Iran and that its capabilities cannot be replaced by using local messengers.
Azari Jahromi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Hassan Rouhani's government, has submitted his resignation to the head of government in response to the judiciary's intervention in banning Telegram, but Rouhani has not agreed to his resignation.
It is said that despite the ban on Telegram, this messaging service is still very popular in Iran, and citizens are trying to access it by bypassing censorship.
Source: DW
