Policy Monitor – December 2021

The publication of our December 2021 Policy Monitor coincides with the second anniversary of the tragic shooting down of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — which resulted in the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew on board — by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The victims of the tragedy are remembered onlineContinue reading “Policy Monitor – December 2021”

The Role of Domestic Messaging Apps in Iran’s Information Controls 

Just under three years have passed since Filterwatch wrote about the significance and dangers of Iran’s domestic messaging apps. We are seeing increasing instances of major privacy violations by these apps, as they seek to expand their user base. Although some might argue that these apps still fail to mount a serious challenge to internationalContinue reading “The Role of Domestic Messaging Apps in Iran’s Information Controls “

Jahromi’s Day in Court Wasn’t About Internet Freedom

On 20 January a number of Iranian news outlets reported that Iran’s ICT Minister, Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi had been summoned to the Culture and Media Court by the Attorney General for questioning, in relation to a number of claims made against him. Early reports stated that the claims were related to non-compliance with a filteringContinue reading “Jahromi’s Day in Court Wasn’t About Internet Freedom”

Policy Monitor – December 2020

The publication of our December Policy Monitor coincides with the first anniversary of the tragic downing of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which resulted in the deaths of all 176 passengers on board. The anniversary of the tragedy has been commemorated online under the hashtags #PS752 and #IWillLightACandleToo, inContinue reading “Policy Monitor – December 2020”

Policy Monitor – November 2020

In November, the Supreme Council for Cyberspace failed to meet for a second month, while the Majles finally voted for two MPs to fill the two parliamentary seats in the Committee for Determining Instances of Criminal Content also known as the country’s internet filtering committee.  Conditions for Iran’s gig workers also made headlines as driversContinue reading “Policy Monitor – November 2020”

Policy Monitor – July 2020

This month, online activism by Iranians with the #DontExecute (In Persian #اعدام_نکنید) made global trends, which called for the revocation of execution orders issued against three young men arrested during the November 2019 protests. The popular hashtag was followed by a string of internet disruptions, which are documented in full in July’s Network Monitor.  Meanwhile,Continue reading “Policy Monitor – July 2020”

Policy Monitor – June 2020

In the June edition of Policy Monitor, we bring you the latest following the first meeting of the  Supreme Council for Cyberspace in four months and the first in the current Iranian calendar. A recent session saw the SCC pass an important new resolution on the National Information Network – a project which continues toContinue reading “Policy Monitor – June 2020”

Policy Monitor – May 2020

With their attention still largely consumed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Iranian authorities have continued to move slowly on internet policy. Although it was another relatively quiet month for digital rights developments, May was far from uneventful elsewhere. According to official figures in May, Iran saw another significant increase in COVID-19 cases, following the relaxationContinue reading “Policy Monitor – May 2020”