{"id":1879,"date":"2019-06-19T04:59:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T04:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2020-06-02T19:50:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T19:50:57","slug":"tech-giants-are-failing-iranians-in-their-struggle-against-a-national-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2019\/06\/19\/tech-giants-are-failing-iranians-in-their-struggle-against-a-national-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Giants Are Failing Iranians In Their Struggle Against A National Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On\u00a0Tuesday 2 July\u00a0<\/a>The German Federal Office of Justice announced that it had issued a fine of \u20ac2 million to Facebook as a result of omissions in its 2018 transparency report. This ruling is an important reminder that as internet companies continue to accumulate even more power, and become further integrated in our daily lives, statutory transparency requirements can play a crucial role in facilitating public scrutiny of their work.<\/p>\n

Although the German court ruling is significant for accountability in Europe and North America, such cases do not necessarily address the needs of internet users in the Global South \u2014 and particularly in politically closed or semi-closed contexts such as Iran.<\/p>\n

Over the last five years Small Media has been documenting Iran\u2019s efforts to localise the internet, epitomised by its moves to create the National Information Network (SHOMA). Ever since it was first proposed, SHOMA has been touted by Iranian political leaders as a means for defending the country\u2019s culture, economy, and national security from online threats. Originally dismissed by many commentators as undeliverable, six years of heavy investment by Rouhani\u2019s administration has seen SHOMA expand rapidly. By centralising Iranian internet infrastructure and developing online services with the aim to limit engagement with global platforms it has emerged as a real threat to digital rights in the country.<\/p>\n

Despite a common focus on the domestic aspects of the network\u2019s construction, the fact remains that foreign tech companies play a significant role in Iran\u2019s localisation of the internet. Iran\u2019s administration has at multiple times relied on engagement with foreign platforms to help make SHOMA a reality. At the same time, strict adherence by tech giants to US-imposed sanctions has been a gift to Iranian authorities in their attempts to nudge netizens onto domestic services.<\/p>\n

In this edition of Filterwatch we seek to highlight the need for tech companies to take greater responsibility for the isolation of Iranian internet users, and suggest how they can start to play an active role in working with Iranians to resist the localisation of the country\u2019s internet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Deciding to Talk \u2014 The Early Days of Engagement<\/h1>\n

Rouhani\u2019s 2013 election marked a significant shift in Iran\u2019s policy towards foreign technology companies. Whilst his predecessors were unwilling to deal with foreign app-makers altogether, Rouhani\u2019s administration has claimed to actively engage with a number of them \u2014 and\u00a0made a show of it<\/a>. Although we cannot be certain whether this engagement has translated into influence over these companies\u2019 policies in the last six years, there is enough evidence that some dialogue took place to justify further scrutiny from the digital rights community.<\/p>\n

The very fact that the administration has sought to engage with foreign technology companies is important, as it requires the approval of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC).Thus by extension, Rouhani\u2019s actions must have received approval from the Supreme Leader, who directly oversees appointments to the SCC. A wider consensus within the upper echelons of Iran\u2019s political system has also been indicated through an announcement in\u00a02016<\/a>\u00a0that Telegram had received a license to start using Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) based in Iran.<\/p>\n

Also, over the last few years we have seen some formal and informal engagement from Iranian authorities with foreign companies on issues of content moderation.\u00a0According to the Google Transparency Report<\/a>, prior to Jan 2016 Iran only demanded the removal of a single Item from Google-run services. This was a request made by 19 other countries to limit access to the YouTube video \u201cInnocence of Muslims\u201d, However since January 2016, Iran\u2019s executive branch has so far made only two requests to remove a total of six items.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s new approach which has been shaped over the last six years is cause for revisiting the response of foreign companies, as Iran may be testing the water for intensified engagements in the coming years. As a result, it\u2019s essential to examine how companies might be able to better support and safeguard Iranian users\u2019 digital rights in such an environemnt.<\/p>\n

In this report we have identified three categories of failures by foreign technology companies which have been capitalised on by Iranian authorities in recent years:<\/p>\n