Iran’s Communications Minister Reports ‘Possibility of Extensive Internet Restrictions’
Hours after the speaker of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly wrote on his Instagram account that “blocking popular platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp” is not on the parliament’s agenda, the communications minister wrote on Telegram: “The possibility of imposing extensive restrictions on messenger bandwidth and even applying filters has significantly increased.”
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Mohammad Javad Zarif Jahromī made these statements in response to the controversial bill “Protection of User Rights in Cyberspace and Regulation of Social Messengers.” This bill moved one step closer to implementation on Wednesday with action by the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Parliamentary representatives in Iran on Wednesday approved consideration of this bill based on Article 85 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution; a bill that, according to critics, aims to impose severe restrictions on domestic users’ access to the internet. Lawmakers authorized a joint parliamentary commission, including the cultural commission, to review the bill and approve it “for implementation in a trial period of 3 to 5 years.”
Mohammad Javad Zarif Jahromī, the communications minister, wrote on Thursday, Mordad 7th, in response to this bill on his Telegram channel: “It does not appear that social networks will be filtered in the short term of several months, but the mechanism envisioned in this draft and the combination of commissions and working groups defined in it have significantly increased the possibility of imposing extensive restrictions on messenger bandwidth and even applying filters.”
According to Zarif Jahromī, if the “Protection” bill is approved by the joint parliamentary commission, “we will certainly face more disorder in the country’s governance.”
Hours before the communications minister’s statement, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, had written on Instagram: “Most of the claims made about the bill do not correspond to reality.”
A group of managers from internet companies such as Digikala, Alibaba, Aparat, Filimo, and Divar wrote a letter to the parliament speaker on Sunday, expressing concern about the approval of the bill protecting cyberspace and emphasizing that “user dissatisfaction and distrust” of service providers would pressure small businesses.
Meanwhile, some reports indicate that following the advancement of the internet access restriction bill in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, searches for the word “immigration” on the internet by Iranian users have significantly increased.
Despite extensive filtering and severe restrictions on internet use in Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, had previously described Iran’s cyberspace as “really uncontrolled” and “free and unbounded.”
The “Protection…” bill has attracted more attention under circumstances in which images of recent protests in various Iranian provinces and security forces’ treatment of protesters have been shared on social networks.
Source: Voice of America
