{"id":1939,"date":"2018-10-18T05:35:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T05:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/?p=1939"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T08:41:07","slug":"filterwatch-october-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2018\/10\/18\/filterwatch-october-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Filterwatch \/\/ October 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the past, most decision-making power about Iranian ICT policy has sat within institutions such as the Supreme Council for Cyberspace, and the Committee to Determine Incidents of Criminal Content. This has led to policy development processes characterised by recurring conflicts between the judiciary and government representatives. As a result of this, officials from more marginalised political groupings have been almost completely absent from policy-making process in Iran.<\/p>\n

However, we appear to be witnessing the early signs of a shift towards increasing levels of engagement by the Iranian Parliament in ICT policy-making processes. In October we saw the launch of a new parliamentary grouping calling itself the \u201cCyberspace Faction\u201d.<\/p>\n

All the early signs point towards this new grouping of MPs taking a more active lead in Parliament in calling for tough new legislation to regulate the online sphere. This month also saw Iranian media outlets break the news that MPs are considering handing over control of key parts of Iran\u2019s internet infrastructure to the armed forces. This provision is currently contained in the \u201cManaging Social Messengers Bill\u201d, which is currently being considered in Parliament.<\/p>\n

During October, Iran\u2019s media and government institutions were largely preoccupied with the effects of the new waves of US sanctions imposed on Iran. Iranian currency still failed to regain the value that it lost over the course of the past two months. Some Iranian officials have started discussing the role of the internet in feeding into uncertainty about the value Iranian currency and therefore contributing to its devaluation. Iranian Judiciary also has announced that number of websites have been blocked in Iran due to their role in Iran\u2019s currency inflation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Policy Developments<\/h1>\n

New \u201cCyberspace Faction\u201d in Iranian Parliament<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On\u00a023 October<\/a>\u00a0the conservative Iranian MP Ehsan Ghazizadeh announced the formation of a \u201cCyberspace Faction\u201d in the Iranian Parliament. During a press conference, he announced that 71 MPs have signed up to the grouping, which will seek to take an active role in shaping new legal frameworks to govern Iranian cyberspace.<\/p>\n

During the launch of the grouping, Ghazizadeh bemoaned Iran\u2019s limited levels of ICT-related legislation, complaining that the country\u2019s four existing ICT bills were insufficient to meaningfully regulate the internet in Iran. Such language suggests that the emerging parliamentary grouping is serious about using parliamentary processes to expand internet regulations.<\/p>\n

Armed Forces Poised To Take Control Over Key Net Infrastructure<\/h2>\n

On 22 October the magazine\u00a0Peivast<\/a>\u00a0published a report revealing the consideration of a new bill entitled the \u201cManaging Social Messengers Bill\u201d, which seeks to transfer a significant level of control over Iran\u2019s Internet infrastructure from Iran\u2019s Telecommunications Infrastructure Company to the armed forces.<\/p>\n

Since then, more details have come to light, with\u00a0the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI)<\/a>\u00a0raising concerns about a number of provisions in the bill which threaten citizens\u2019 rights. The bill is backed by 93 MPs and is currently being considered in the Parliamentary Culture Committee. Iran\u2019s ICT Ministry has objected to the bill, claiming that to hand key internet infrastructure over to the military would be illegal.<\/p>\n

National Centre for Cyberspace: No New Telegram Agreement<\/h2>\n

On 1 October<\/a>\u00a0Amir Khorasan \u2014 the Content Deputy at the National Center for Cyberspace \u2014 quashed rumors of a new agreement having been reached between the Iranian government and Telegram.<\/p>\n

In the past, a number of Iranian\u00a0officials had claimed<\/a>\u00a0that direct talks were ongoing between Iran and Telegram. Although Telegram has not demonstrated any meaningful transparency regarding its dealings with Iran,\u00a0it is clear that<\/a>\u00a0they previously reached some level of agreement which resulted in the placement of Telegram content delivery networks (CDNs) in the country.<\/p>\n

Supreme Council of Cyberspace Intervenes on Internet of Things<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On 22 October<\/a>\u00a0a meeting of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC) was chaired by President Hassan Rouhani. The meeting saw two major decisions being reached: firstly, to introduce greater levels of governance relating to the Internet of Things in Iran. The three page document mainly outlines the SCC\u2019s definition of the IoT, and gives the SCC six months to deliver a detailed report to the National Centre for Cyberspace about the challenges posed by the IoT, in collaboration with other ICT policy-making institutions.<\/p>\n

The other important decision made by SCC was to delegate the executive responsibilities of Iran\u2019s High Council of Informatics to the ICT Ministry. This council was dissolved on 2 April 2014 and its duties were reassigned to the SCC.<\/p>\n

Will IRGC Withdraw From Telecommunication Company of Iran?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On 25 October<\/a>\u00a0Iran\u2019s ICT Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi said that more details will be published soon about IRGC\u2019s plans to sell their shares in the Mobin Trust Consortium.<\/p>\n

Earlier it was reported in IRGC-affiliated news agencies that the IRGC is planning to put an end to its financial entanglements with the Telecommunication Company of Iran.<\/p>\n

ICT Ministry Signals More Regulations on Digital Economy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On\u00a020 October<\/a> Jahromi announced the upcoming release of a document outlining regulations for the digital economy in Iran. Jahromi said that the document will provide a basis for the governance of the digital economy in Iran.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Infrastructure<\/h1>\n

ICT Ministry Refutes Claims US Sanctions Could Disrupt Net Access<\/h2>\n

Iran\u2019s ICT Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi has dismissed claims that a new wave of US sanctions could lead to Iran\u2019s access to the internet being cut off. The claim was\u00a0made by number of people on social media<\/a>, and it was put to Jahromi on a TV talk show on\u00a023 October<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New SIMs Promise \u2018Age-Appropriate\u2019 Internet For Kids, Teens<\/h2>\n

On\u00a029 October<\/a>\u00a0the Iranian company Anarestan claimed that it has distributed 1.5 million child and teenager-friendly SIM cards nationwide. The SIM card places some restrictions on the websites accessible to users, and claims to provide more \u2018age-appropriate\u2019 content to users.<\/p>\n

Jahromi has spoken about the importance of providing tailored content to young people, and the ICT Ministry publicises the organisation\u2019s work on the issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Cybersecurity & Cybercrime<\/h1>\n

FATA Announces 117 Cybercrime Arrests in Qom<\/h2>\n

On\u00a010 October<\/a>\u00a0the Head of Iran\u2019s Cyber Police (FATA) in Qom Province announced 117 people had been arrested for cybercrimes in the province between March-June 2018. According to Colonel Ali Movali, 70 of those who were arrested because of financial crimes.<\/p>\n

Nearly 75,000 Arrests in Eight Years of FATA<\/h2>\n

On\u00a010 October<\/a> General Kamal Hadianfar, the Head of FATA claimed that over the last eight years of FATA\u2019s operation, 74,917 people have been identified and arrested by the organisation. He also claimed that currently between 10 to 12 million in Iran use VPNs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Digital Services and the Economy<\/h1>\n

Cafe Bazaar Reveals Iran\u2019s Regional Tech Hubs<\/h2>\n

According to a report released on\u00a028 October<\/a>\u00a0by the Iranian app store Cafe Bazaar, 26.8% of all Iranian applications are made in Tehran. Gilan Province is the second largest producer, producing 9.9% of all apps developed in Iran. Khorasan Razavi (8.5%), Golestan (7.9%) and West Azerbaijan (7.4%) follow.<\/p>\n

The report also states that 31% of the apps made in Tehran are games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Content, Apps and Social Media Filtering<\/h1>\n

ISP Shatel Expresses Concern Over Economics of Filtering<\/h2>\n

On\u00a05 October<\/a>\u00a0the Head of the Board of Directors at the Shatel Group, Hussein Shanehsazzadeh, stated that filtering has negatively affected the income of internet service providers in Iran, implying that users\u2019 data usage has fallen. He expressed his worries about rumours indicating the possible filtering of Instagram.<\/p>\n

Although many users have taken to using VPNs to access blocked sites in Iran, announcements such as this suggest that a not-insignificant number of users have lost their connection to blocked websites altogether.<\/p>\n

New Filtering Committee Secretary: No Friend of Messaging Apps<\/h2>\n

On\u00a013 October<\/a>\u00a0the Secretary of the CDICC, and Judiciary\u2019s Deputy on Cyberspace Issues Abdolsamad Khoramabadi was replaced by Javad Javidniya, the former Deputy Prosecutor of Mashhad. Khoramabadi has been a leading figure in advocating for a heavy-handed crackdown on foreign-hosted messaging apps and social networks. On a number of occasions he has entered into public feuds with Rouhani\u2019s ICT ministers over core aspects of policy.<\/p>\n

Javidniya is a relative unknown coming into this role, and it remains unclear whether this change will lead to any substantial policy shifts. That said, on the basis of the information that we have available, Javidniya appears to share Khorramabadi\u2019s hard-line stance on internet policy issues.<\/p>\n

In an\u00a02016 interview<\/a>, Javidniya raised his concerns about social networking sites threatening social values and citizens\u2019 \u201ccommitment to the family\u201d. He also labeled Telegram as a \u201cZionist software\u201d, and spoke of the need to block it and replace it with a domestic messaging app.<\/p>\n

Telegram CEO Claims Iran Requested Censorship Tools<\/h2>\n

Telegram founder Pavel Durov tweeted on\u00a020 October<\/a>\u00a0that Iranian authorities \u201cdemanded that Telegram provide them with spying and censorship tools\u201d. He said that when the company ignored this request, the app was blocked.<\/p>\n

Filtering Intensifies in Response to Currency Crisis<\/h2>\n

On\u00a03 October<\/a>\u00a0Tehran\u2019s Prosecutor Jafar Dolatabadi announced that 17 sites and 26 channels were blocked after a joint investigation by FATA and the Tehran Police.<\/p>\n

These sites were ordered to be blocked for the role they were deemed to have played in the Iranian currency crisis. The sites were accused of publishing inaccurate prices for foreign currency and gold on a daily basis, thereby contributing to panic in the market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All the latest ICT policy news from Iran. A new parliamentary grouping readies itself to push through new internet controls , Iran\u2019s Filtering Committee gets new blood, and the military stands poised to take over key internet infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1926,"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":[69],"class_list":["post-1939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-monitor","tag-filterwatch-october-2018","entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}