Introduction
In 2023, Iran began to see the aftermath of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, which brought significant and often tense social changes. This report looks at how the Cyber Police and other security and judicial forces have used legal and illegal tools to enforce the compulsory hijab law, examining its impact on women’s rights and overall citizen rights.
Furthermore, the report investigates the government’s reaction to the movement, detailing the strategies implemented by the cyber police. It outlines the patterns of repression, evaluating their social consequences. These patterns are indicative of the Islamic Republic’s long-standing authoritarian and totalitarian traditions, which have now found a new arena in the realm of information technology.
The Legacy of Mahsa Amini
Mahsa Amini’s tragic death in the custody of the morality police in September 2022 sparked a nationwide movement challenging the compulsory hijab law and systemic violence against women. It quickly became a turning point in Iran’s post-1979 revolution history. This movement brought a significant shift in social attitudes and showcased new ways of civil disobedience online and offline. Widespread support from many citizens, including artists, athletes, and social media influencers, pushed the government to devise a comprehensive and forceful response.
The Government’s Response: A Multi-Faceted Strategy
The Iranian government quickly developed a multi-layered strategy to tighten its control. They created new legal mechanisms to punish online opposition to the hijab law and mobilized intelligence, security, and judicial forces to support this. They aimed not just to maintain social order but to enforce their ideological and moral framework. This period is marked by increased surveillance and control.
Cyber Police: Enforcers of Digital Discipline
Increased Surveillance in the Digital Realm
While the primary role of the Cyber Police (FATA) is to protect users’ digital security, especially at a time when Iranian citizens’ private data is more vulnerable to cyberattacks, phishing, and hacking of government infrastructure, their focus has instead been on tracking dissidents and opponents. This shift toward stricter and more systematic digital controls is part of a calculated strategy to dominate online discourse.
Crackdown on Digital Activities
Artists, social activists, and influencers have been targeted by Cyber Police monitoring programs like “Project Nazer.” The strategic targeting of these individuals is significant due to their expansive online followings. Fear and increased penalties have pushed many of these public figures into self-censorship or silence, undermining freedom of expression in the digital sphere.
Double Discrimination Against Women
Amid increasing police surveillance, female influencers and activists who violated hijab regulations or spoke out against the compulsory hijab have faced crackdowns and legal prosecution. In post-revolutionary Iran, the compulsory hijab has become a political tool to suppress women, and rejecting it has come to symbolize resistance against the government’s ideological dominance.
Over the past few months, the Instagram accounts of dozens of female influencers have been shut down for not wearing hijab or promoting a lifestyle outside the government’s standards. Some of these women had up to a million followers, using Instagram as a source of income. This crackdown demonstrates the government’s intent to interfere with women’s choices, extending its suppression and discrimination into the digital realm.
A notable case is Niloufar Aghaei, whose account was blocked by the Cyber Police. Aghaei, a women’s health expert and a victim of eye injuries in the 2022 protests, had over 150,000 followers. On November 14, 2022, her account was wiped clean, leaving only a post that read, “Public Security Police have seized this page on the orders of judicial authorities.” Her Instagram account, where she discussed women’s health, daily life, and eye injury, was reinstated on December 24, 2023.
Given the system’s existing gaps, the government is developing new legal mechanisms to systematically suppress the digital space, like the “Hijab and Chastity” bill. These rules impose heavy fines and extensive social restrictions to shape citizens’ online behavior according to the state’s beliefs.
The Hijab and Chastity Bill
This bill, which is seen as the government’s direct response to the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising, imposes strict ethical and dress guidelines on citizens’ online presence as dictated by the Islamic Republic. It covers personal pages, social media-based businesses, and other public online activities. Promoting anti-hijab views or advocating against hijab is criminalized, with penalties and restrictions for violators. The bill also makes hijab mandatory in online spaces. Although a draft was approved in parliament, it was returned to parliament for further review by the Guardian Council in late 2023 due to “religious and legal ambiguities.” However, the council left its discriminatory and suppressive framework primarily intact.
The Seventh Development Plan
According to articles 76 and 77 of the Seventh Development Plan, a five-year strategic plan for the government, the regulation and supervision of online content production have been assigned to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). This is framed as part of the government’s goal to “expand and deepen Islamic-Iranian culture and counter the enemy’s hybrid warfare.” Practically, content creators in online spaces and social media must obtain a license from these cultural institutions. These authorities were given control by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, which plays a crucial role in limiting freedom of expression in Iran.
Examples of Suppression
With the street protests waning at the start of 2023, crackdowns on citizens’ online activities increased. This included arrests for posting images without a hijab, targeting virtual groups advocating for women’s rights, and harassing influential women activists fighting for freedom of dress.
During this period, more than 20 prominent female film and theater actors were officially banned from working by the Ministry of Culture, and many teachers and athletes were also forced out of work for supporting “Women, Life, Freedom” and criticizing compulsory hijab. Many personal online business accounts were also shut down for sharing images without hijab or for other reasons.
Many knowledge-based companies have also been pressured during this period. By the end of 2023, sporadic and occasional page seizures turned into a widespread campaign to block the accounts of prominent figures and well-known businesses on Instagram. These accounts, which sometimes had millions of followers, were cleaned out after their owners were summoned to the Cyber Police, and a notice reading “Seized by judicial authorities” replaced their content—a move likely intended to intimidate the broader user base.
Further Erosion Freedom of Expression
The government’s strict online policies, enforced by the Cyber Police, have significantly undermined citizens’ right to free speech. The digital space, which once served as a relative platform for expressing opinions without independent media, is now marked by surveillance and fear.
Deterioration of Privacy
The right to privacy is a fundamental human right, allowing people to live free from surveillance or interference. Respecting this right enables individuals to decide what information to share with others independently. This right is recognized in international and regional human rights documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The UN has also adopted a resolution to protect online privacy from state surveillance.
While the Iranian Constitution’s Article 25 explicitly prohibits spying, eavesdropping, and entering private spaces, the government’s increasingly sophisticated surveillance tactics have put citizens’ privacy under unprecedented attack. This has made it nearly impossible to express opinions, ideas, or religious beliefs or make any critical comments without fear of suppression or discrimination, creating a society fraught with distrust and insecurity.
2023 as a Turning Point
The year 2023 stands as a pivotal moment in Iran’s sociopolitical history. It began with the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, sparking seismic social unrest, and ended with the government tightening its grip on the digital realm, suppressing civil activists, dissenting online users, and women protesting compulsory hijab. These changes have had profound and long-term effects on Iranian citizens’ rights and cast a dark shadow on the future of human rights in the country.
Perceiving the digital space as a threat to its preferred social order and ideological cohesion, the Iranian government has taken extensive measures to increase surveillance and crack down on online activities. Women, as the primary driving force of the movement, have borne the brunt of these measures, losing their little digital freedom. The online space has become an extension of the discriminatory real-world environment for them.
The government’s comprehensive policing and security measures have had far-reaching effects on Iranian society. These actions have eroded free expression, violated privacy, and polarized society, significantly impacting the already fragile digital economy and further damaging the current and future state of human rights in Iran.
The Iranian government is likely to continue its efforts to control the digital sphere, particularly given the provisions in the Seventh Development Plan, such as the Comprehensive Lifestyle Monitoring System. However, Iran’s civil society, including the women’s movement and other social groups, will find ways to resist and counter these efforts. Both physical and digital public spaces are ongoing battlegrounds where governments and those challenging hierarchical systems vie for influence.
