Iran is the world’s second most censored country, according to Freedom House’s 2015 “Freedom on The Net” report. Iran scored 87 on the study’s index (100 being the worst), tying with Syria and falling just behind China. Although President Hassan Rouhani has made some progress pushing through reforms, such as expanding 3G services, “major improvements to civil liberties remain blocked by the supreme leader and the country’s conservative establishment.” The following are excerpts from the report.
Key Developments: June 2014 - May 2015
- The ICT ministry’s budget reached its highest level in history, reflecting increasing investments in both internet infrastructure and censorship tools (see Availability and Ease of Access).
- An exclusive 3G contract issued to mobile operator RighTel was not renewed, thereby opening up licensing to all operators in a move that was not welcomed by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and hardliners, who regard mobile internet as “un-Islamic” (see Regulatory Bodies).
- While the administration of President Hassan Rouhani did not fulfill campaign promises to unblock popular social media platforms, the government managed to change content blocking procedures to give government ministers more say over hardliners appointed by the Supreme Leader. This enabled the ICT ministry to push back against attempts to block chatting apps WhatsApp and Viber (see Blocking and Filtering).
- Several news sites were blocked throughout the year for publishing news on corruption or images of former political leaders that have fallen out of favor with the Supreme Leader (see Blocking and Filtering).
- In August 2014, Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani was arrested on charges of insulting state officials and spreading propaganda for posting an image of a parliamentary vote on reproductive rights. She was released in December, only to be rearrested one month later after uploading a video describing the abuse she faced at the hands of prison guards. She was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in August 2015 (see Prosecutions and Detentions).
- In July and August 2014, authorities prevented an estimated 75 percent of users from connecting to Tor, an anonymous web-browsing tool used to evade censorship and surveillance (see Surveillance, Privacy, and Anonymity).
Introduction
Hassan Rouhani was elected president in 2013 promising to improve the lives of Iranians and ease restrictions on the use of the internet. The promises were particularly well received by Iranians, who during the final 18 months of former president Mahmood Ahmadinejad’s term saw conditions for internet freedom worsen. Upon the start of his presidency, the Rouhani administration increased the budget for SHOMA, Iran’s “national information network,” which aims to improve connectivity in Iran, while also enhancing the authorities’ ability to control the network and monitor citizens’ online activities. In a positive development, the Rouhani government made 3G licenses available to all mobile operators, creating the potential to diversify the market and increase access.
Rouhani’s administration has faced stiff resistance from hardliners demanding the maintenance of speed restrictions to prevent “un-Islamic behavior” and the filtering of messaging services such as WhatsApp and Viber. While Rouhani’s administration has successfully resisted some demands, many limits on content remain in place, and violations of user rights continue. In one case from July 2014, 8 Facebook activists were sentenced to a combined 127 years in prison for anti-government posts. In general, internet policy remains a contested space in Iran, with the hardliners viewing the internet as a threat to national security and favoring a “security-first” approach. . Internet policy in Iran will continue to be shaped by differing state bodies, but like many other aspects of policymaking in Iran, the sector is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Despite these limitations, the internet remains the only viable means for Iranian citizens and dissenters to obtain news and organize themselves. Savvy users employ virtual private networks (VPNs) or other circumvention tools to access blocked content, turning to new services if existing ones are blocked by the authorities. This cat-and-mouse game largely continued over the past year.
Obstacles to Access
Most improvements to internet freedom that have come under the presidency of Hassan Rouhani relate to access and the ICT market. The ICT ministry’s budget reached its highest level in history, reflecting increasing investments in both internet infrastructure and censorship tools. National bandwidth increased by 2.5 times over the past year. The ICT ministry did not renew an exclusive 3G contract issued to mobile operator RighTel, thereby opening up licensing to all operators in a move that was not welcomed by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) and hardliners, who regard internet-enabled mobile phones as “un-Islamic.”
Limits on Content
Significant limits on content remain in place. While the administration of President Hassan Rouhani has not fulfilled campaign promises to unblock popular social media platforms, the government has succeeded in changing procedures behind the blocking of content to give government ministers more say over hardliners appointed by the Supreme Leader. In another positive move, the ICT ministry successfully pushed back against attempts to block chatting apps WhatsApp and Viber. Nonetheless, several news sites were blocked throughout the year for publishing news on corruption or images of former political leaders that have fallen out of favor with the Supreme Leader. The high level of self-censorship and the blocking of social media continued to stymie any significant digital activism.
Violations of User Rights
An undemocratic legal environment, harsh prison sentences, and rampant surveillance impede the rights of internet users in Iran. Several individuals were imprisoned for nonviolent speech that met the ire of authorities. Cartoonist Atena Farghadani was sentenced to more than 12 years for a YouTube video, eight young Facebook users received a combined 127 years for, and tech bloggers were handed 11 years each. At the same time, authorities have made it more difficult to evade censorship and surveillance by restricting access to popular circumvention tools.
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