{"id":1871,"date":"2019-08-19T04:53:13","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T04:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/?p=1871"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:41:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T08:41:06","slug":"filterwatch-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2019\/08\/19\/filterwatch-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Monitor \u2014 July 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In July, Iran\u2019s ICT Ministry celebrated a number of fresh advances towards the further localisation of digital services and internet infrastructure in Iran. Most notably, Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi took to Twitter to celebrate the development of a domestically-produced mobile operating system, which is being lined up as a potential alternative to the sanctions-afflicted Android OS.<\/p>\n

In another important development, authorities marked the first deployment of electronic voting machines in local elections in Tehran. The potential introduction of such machines into future electoral contests with limited oversight raises the prospect of them further undermining the integrity of Iranian elections.<\/p>\n

Finally, Iran has been plagued by a series of internet service disruptions in recent months. The ICT Ministry remains tight-lipped about the extent and cause of these disruptions, which have been met with suspicion by human rights activists and campaigners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ICT Minister Attends National Security Committee Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a023 July<\/a>, ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi attended a meeting of Iran\u2019s Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. The meeting was called to allow Jahromi to respond to questions raised by Nasrollah Pejmanfard, a conservative MP and leading member of the \u2018Cyber Faction\u2019 in Iran\u2019s Parliament.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, Jahromi was asked about measures to identify internet users online, managing the growth of VPNs and circumvention tools, and ending the use of unregistered mobile SIM cards. After the meeting, committee spokesperson Seyyed Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini announced that Pejmanfard was satisfied with Jahromi\u2019s answers.<\/p>\n

ICT Ministry Ponders Internet Price Hike<\/strong><\/p>\n

In July there were a number of reports that suggested ICT Minister Jahromi is about to approve a hik in the price of internet subscriptions. In June, companies offering ADSL services to Iranian users asked Jahromi to permit a 50% increase in the price of their packages.\u00a0On 9 July<\/a> Jahromi announced that he has set four conditions for this change to take place: [infrastructure] investment, technological updates, a commitment to using domestic digital products, and high-quality service provision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Iranians Given 5% Internet Allowance In Response to Network Disruptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a016 July<\/a>\u00a0the CEO of the Telecommunication Company of Iran Seyed Majid Sadri announced that due to network disruptions in recent months, Iranian users\u2019 monthly data allowance would be increased by 5%.<\/p>\n

Jahromi has denied that system disruptions were the result of actions taken by Iranian officials. However, this claim has been contested by\u00a0campaigners<\/a>, activists, and other\u00a0human rights organisations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ICT Minister Holds Talks With Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a017 July<\/a>\u00a0ICT Minister Jahromi and his Turkish, Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts held a meeting in Tehran, seeking to extend cooperation across their growing digital economies. At the end of the meeting, the group agreed to host events twice yearly in order to extend their collaborations further.<\/p>\n

Iranian Schools to be Connected to SHOMA by 21 March 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a020 July<\/a>, ICT Minister Jahromi announced that by the end of 1398 (21 March 2020) all Iranian schools will be required to be connected to the National Information Network (SHOMA). Such a move brings potential for the significant centralisation and collection of student data. To date, the plan has faced no scrutiny from either the public or policymakers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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ICT Ministry Determined to Cut Down on Gambling Sites<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a029 July<\/a>, ICT Minister Jahromi announced on Twitter that the ICT Ministry is prioritising a crackdown on gambling sites, and asked his followers to suggest new ways to fight them. Since last summer\u2019s FIFA World Cup, many Iranian online influencers have taken to promoting gambling sites via Instagram or Telegram.<\/p>\n

Gambling is strictly forbidden in Iran and heavily punished by law. Over the past year Iran\u2019s Cyber Police (or FATA) has significantly intensified its anti-gambling operations.<\/p>\n

GPS Service Disruption Continues into July<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a01 July<\/a>, Deputy ICT Minister Hossein Fallah acknowledged that there have been disruptions to GPS services in Tehran. Although he stopped short of speculating about the source of such disruption, he noted that this is not the first time disruptions have been detected. This comes in spite of repeated denials from security agencies and the Supreme National Security Council about the use of GPS jammers by Iranian authorities.<\/p>\n

In recent months, analysts have\u00a0blamed<\/a> the disruptions on a number of actors, ranging from Russia to the IRGC. The disruptions, as well as causing frustration for Iranian users, pose genuine threats to Iranian civilian and military aviation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mohammad Farjood, the CEO of the Tehran Municipality ICT Organisation,\u00a0announces<\/a>\u00a0the introduction of electronic voting machines into local elections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Electronic Voting Introduced in Tehran Municipal Elections<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a026 July<\/a>, 8,000 electronic voting machines were used in Tehran for the election of City Council Assistants. This is the first time that Iran has held an election using only electronic voting machines.<\/p>\n

This election may be the first step towards the machines\u2019 later implementation for regional or national elections. The introduction of such methods should only be considered after the application of proper scrutiny to the technologies and oversight mechanisms in place, given the potential risks of further undermining trust in the integrity of elections.<\/p>\n

CEO of SCC-Approved Messaging App \u2018Soroush\u2019 Resigns<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a027 July<\/a>\u00a0it was confirmed that Morteza Rahimi, CEO of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (or SCC)-approved messaging app \u2018Soroush\u2019 had resigned from his position. Rahimi cited broken promises and a lack of support from IRIB as the reason for him tendering his resignation.<\/p>\n

Rahimi also announced that he and the development team have been working on a separate messenger called Soroush Plus, which will see the company ending their collaboration with IRIB. Soroush was developed by a group of students and bought by the IRIB, which formed the company named \u2018Soroush Media Technology Development\u2019 to manage the app.<\/p>\n

In the past<\/a>, the ICT Ministry has blamed other government bodies such as IRIB for failing to provide adequate support for the development of domestic messaging apps.<\/p>\n

\u2018Smart Iran\u2019 Tech Startup Event Held in Tehran<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a021 August<\/a>, a high profile event was held in Tehran titled \u2018Smart Iran\u2019. It was attended by President Hassan Rouhani and ICT Minister Jahromi. The event brought together leading policymakers and tech startups from across the country. Rouhani\u2019s government has prioritised collaborating with startups in order to expand the range of domestic digital services available to Iranians under SHOMA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Iranian Students Develop Domestic Alternative to Android<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a07 July<\/a>, ICT Minister Jahromi tweeted a promotional video in which it was announced that a group of Iranian students at Sharif University have developed a domestic alternative to the Android mobile operating system.<\/p>\n

In his comments to the media, Jahromi stated that the widespread adoption of a domestic operating system would lessen reliance on foreign services, which can more easily be limited by sanctions.<\/p>\n

ICT Minister Announces Establishment of New Regional Mobile Operating System<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a018 July<\/a>\u00a0ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, visiting Iran\u2019s\u00a0Elecomp<\/a>\u00a0exhibition, said that there were plans to establish a regional mobile operating system. He also clarified that this project is not connected to the domestic Android operating system developed by students at Sharif University.<\/p>\n

National Cyberspace Centre and the Office for Islamic Promotion Sign Memorandum of Understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a024 July<\/a>\u00a0the SCC Secretary Seyyed Abolhasan Firouzabadi and Chief of the Islamic Propagation Office Ahmad Vaezi signed a memorandum of understanding between their two organisations. The two bodies are seeking to expand their cooperation on educational, research, promotional and cultural work. This move is in line with the SCC and ICT Ministry\u2019s efforts to expand the availability of state-sanctioned content and services online under the umbrella of SHOMA.<\/p>\n

Vice President for Legal Affairs Denounces \u201cIllegal\u201d Telegram Ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an interview on\u00a027 July<\/a>\u00a0Laya Joneydi, the Rouhani administration\u2019s Vice President for Legal Affairs stated that the filtering of Telegram is illegal. She insisted that the blocking of a platform such as Telegram must be ordered through the CDICC, and not unilaterally through the judiciary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran steps up its localisation of digital services and infrastructure, as mysterious network disruptions cause frustration for users. Kaveh Azarhoosh has all the latest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-1871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-monitor","tag-filterwatch-july-2019","entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}