{"id":2479,"date":"2020-09-16T16:28:40","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T16:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/?p=2479"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:41:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T08:41:04","slug":"policy-monitor-august-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2020\/09\/16\/policy-monitor-august-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Monitor \u2013 August 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet another month passed without a meeting of Iran\u2019s primary internet policy making body, the Supreme Council for Cyberspace. This continued inactivity led parliament to voice their dissatisfaction by proposing a new bill to drive forward the completion of the National Information Network.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an updated text for the alarming \u201cManaging Social Messaging Apps\u201d Bill was released and placed on the Parliamentary Cultural Committee\u2019s agenda. The proposed bill continues to contain a number of provisions that threaten to further erode the human rights of Iranian internet users.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Filterwatch\u2019s August 2020 Network Monitor supplements this report by providing analysis on the state of internet disruptions and network outages in Iran during August.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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No Meeting of the Supreme Council for Cyberspace this Month\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

There is no record of a meeting being held by the Supreme Council for Cyberspace (SCC) this month. The mandate for the SCC \u2013 which was issued by the Supreme Leader \u2013 was last renewed on 5 September 2015 for a period of four years, and has now expired. This mandate has not been formally renewed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Proposal In Parliament for the \u201cCompletion of the National Information Network\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

On <\/span>27 August<\/span><\/a> Tehran MP, SCC member and former ICT Minister Reza Taghipour voiced his criticism about a lack of SCC meetings, and announced that a bill requiring the government to complete the National Information Network (NIN) is now \u201con the parliamentary agenda\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The aim of the proposed bill, according to Taghipour, is to decide on the legal obligations of the government to deliver the NIN, and to create stronger \u201cguarantees\u201d about its completion. This is proposed to involve the establishment of quantitative indicators to measure the progress of the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taghipour went on to add that the delays in SCC meetings have meant that \u201cimportant cyberspace-related agenda items... have not yet been assigned a time for a meeting\u201d. The move comes following reports that the Supreme Leader had recently met government delegations where he \u201cexpressed criticism\u201d over the way the NIN has been implemented, including criticising delays, and a \u201clack of interest\u201d from the government in holding SCC meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amended \u201cManaging Social Messaging Apps Bill\u201d Back on the Parliamentary Cultural Committee\u2019s Agenda<\/b><\/p>\n

According to reports, on <\/span>14 August<\/span><\/a> the \u201cManaging Social Messaging Apps\u201d bill was placed on the current agenda of the Parliamentary Cultural Committee. The bill, which was first introduced in 2018 by the \u2018Cyber Faction\u201d of the 10th Parliament, underwent a <\/span>review<\/span><\/a> at the Parliamentary Research Centre (PRC) and returned to Parliament for approval by the Cultural Committee late last year. This process was not completed before the end of the last parliamentary term. The text of the new draft of the bill, which is now known as the \u201cProtection of User\u2019s Rights Online and Managing Social Messaging Apps Bill\u201d has been <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> by the PRC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to proposals in the bill, the operation of all messaging apps in the country will be managed by an \u201cOversight Board\u201d chaired by the Head of the National Centre for Cyberspace and a \u201crelevant deputy\u201d or representative from a number of government ministries, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), an MP from the Parliamentary Cultural Commission, and representatives from the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the National Police.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most controversial and dangerous articles of the bill gives the Armed Forces control over internet gateways without any limits. The bill also constraints a number of new articles, one of which defines the unauthorised production, publication and distribution of VPNs and circumvention tools as a crime. The article is in line with our previous analysis on \u201cLayered Filtering\u201d and state of legal VPNs in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the bill\u2019s name however, there are a limited number of new articles dedicated to data and privacy protections for users, which allocates the responsibility of \u201cprotecting user\u2019s private data\u201d\u00a0 to messaging apps, hosting services, and ISPs. Any data protection measures set out in this bill appear be limited to the use of messaging apps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If the bill is approved by the Commission, it will subsequently be subject to a vote in Parliament and then to approval by the Guardian Council before it becomes law.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Domestic Messaging Apps to Receive Unspecified Free Services from New \u201cPrimary\u201d National Information Network Data Centre\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

On <\/span>29 August<\/span><\/a> the Deputy Director of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company (TIC) Sajad Bonabi announced the launch of the first phase of the \u201cPrimary NIN Data Centre\u201d in Bumehen (located in Tehran Province), with a 100 rack capacity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Bonabi, the Primary Data Centre will first provide unspecified technical services free-of-charge to domestic messaging apps. It will later provide these services to domestic search engines and cloud based services in its second phase.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s ICT Minister Claims \u201c57% of the Infrastructural Components of the National Information Network Completed\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

On<\/span> 26 August<\/span><\/a>, ICT Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi appeared in an interview on Iran\u2019s state television where he answered questions on the progress of the NIN. Jahromi claimed that \u201caccording to the SCC\u2019s resolution, there are 23 infrastructural components to the NIN\u201d. He added that according to the Ministry\u2019s observations, this meant \u201c57% of the infrastructural components have been completed, 19% are still to be completed, and 24% need to be deployed\u201d. He did not specify which aspects of the NIN\u2019s infrastructure he was referring to. Jahromi also added that when it comes to services such as domestic search engines \u201cwe have failed to produce services that can manage people\u2019s demands\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jahromi\u2019s interview came after his appearance at a turbulent <\/span>public session<\/span><\/a> in Parliament where he was met with criticism from MPs. It is also worth noting that last year, the SCC <\/span>disputed<\/span><\/a> figures provided by the ICT Ministry claiming that they had made progress on 80%\u00a0 infrastructure of the NIN had been realised.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cFree Internet\u201d Scheme for Journalists Launched for a Second Year\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

On <\/span>9 August<\/span><\/a> Jamal Hadiyan, Spokesperson for the ICT Ministry announced that the \u201cfree internet\u201d scheme for journalists will launch<\/span> again<\/span><\/a> this year, per President Rouhani\u2019s orders.\u00a0 Details for joining the year-long scheme were sent by SMS to journalists on 7 August,\u00a0 \u201cJournalists Day\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hadiyan added that the scheme's details were released to the list of journalists formally approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Half-Price Internet for \u201cDomestic Educational Content Creators\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

On <\/span>27 August <\/span><\/a>\u00a0the ICT Ministry announced that domestic \u201ceducational apps and systems\u201d can register via the <\/span>Information Technology Organisation of Iran (ITO)\u2019s government-to-business portal<\/span><\/a> in order for their visitors to receive \u201cpreferential\u201d rates from Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Implementation will take one month after registration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Domestically routed internet is already calculated at half the rate of international internet, effectively ending net neutrality in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shatel Mobile Users Promised Access to Websites Blocked by Sanctions\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

According to a report by<\/span> Mehr News<\/span><\/i> on <\/span>10 August<\/span><\/a> users of the mobile and broadband service provider Shatel Mobile are now able to use their Shatel SIM card to access services blocked for Iranian IP addresses as a result of sanctions. The affected services include services such as Adobe, Intel, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Oracle, and Avast. The full list can be viewed <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new service by Shatel essentially provides authorised VPN services, though limited details are available on the technical operation of this service. We have already written on the <\/span>operation<\/span><\/a> of VPNs in Iran and its aims to implement a system of <\/span>\u201clayered filtering\u201d <\/span><\/a>for various user groups.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet another month passed without a meeting of Iran\u2019s primary internet policy making body, the Supreme Council for Cyberspace. This continued inactivity led parliament to voice their dissatisfaction by proposing a new bill to drive forward the completion of the National Information Network.\u00a0 Meanwhile, an updated text for the alarming \u201cManaging Social Messaging Apps\u201d BillContinue reading \"Policy Monitor \u2013 August 2020\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","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":[],"class_list":["post-2479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-monitor","entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t