{"id":3019,"date":"2021-06-02T10:15:39","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T10:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/en\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2025-05-11T08:05:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T08:05:50","slug":"fatawatch-january-march-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filter.watch\/english\/2021\/06\/02\/fatawatch-january-march-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"FATAwatch: January \u2013 March 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the first three months of 2021, we observed further tightening of restrictions in Iran\u2019s online public space as the country\u2019s Cyber Police (FATA), Judiciary and Intelligence services, intensified their efforts to monitor Iranians\u2019 online activities, and take action against individuals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A number of significant events concerning Iran\u2019s internet took place during the first few months of 2021. The secure messaging app Signal \u2013 which experienced a surge in users following changes to WhatsApp\u2019s security policies \u2013 was <\/span>filtered in January,<\/span><\/a> however no authorities took responsibility for the decision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In February, a local shutdown was <\/span>implemented<\/span><\/a> for several days in a number of cities in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, during protests following clashes between fuel traders and security forces, in which a number of people were killed or injured.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In March, Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei marked the arrival of the Iranian New Year with a speech denouncing \u201cthose in charge\u201d for a \u201clack of management\u201d of Iran\u2019s internet. Two days later, Hossein Salami, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) wrote a letter to Khamenei in which he <\/span>vowed<\/span><\/a> to \u201cfree\u201d Iran\u2019s Internet from the \u201clack of management\u201d that he had described.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This edition of FATAwatch covers the period January-March 2021. It documents ongoing violations of Iranians\u2019 fundamental rights in online spaces, including further arrests on political charges, as well as for online activities judged to violate the Islamic Republic\u2019s moral principles \u2013 these encompass a state crackdown on online gambling, as well as its deeply gendered policing of online violations of the Islamic dress code.<\/span><\/p>\n

January 2021\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

On <\/span>7 January<\/span><\/a> the Court of Appeal for Isfahan Province upheld Zahra Nazouri\u2019s one year prison sentence, which was issued by the province\u2019s Revolutionary Court.\u00a0 Nazouri is married to the Iran-Iraq war veteran Abdolrasoul Mortazavi, who is currently serving a sentence at Evin political prison for signing the \u201c<\/span>Statement of 14 Political Activists<\/span><\/a>\u201d calling for Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) Nazouri\u2019s charges include \u201cactivity against the state\u201d. A source has also revealed to HRANA that the evidence used against Nazouri included \u201cmaterial published online in protest of her husband\u2019s sentence\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>12 January<\/span><\/a> Colonel Davoud Moazami Goudarzi, FATA Chief in Tehran reported the arrest of Telegram channel administrators for advertising the sale of hygiene products and personal protective equipment using \u201cimmoral and immodest\u201d images. According to Goudarzi the channel had more than 9,000 followers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>25 January<\/span><\/a> Colonel Ehsan Aneghi, the FATA Chief in Markazi Province reported that an individual had been arrested for \u201cdisrupting public opinion\u201d against a manager at a major factory in the city of Arak. The individual arrested was accused of posting \u201cfalse\u201d and \u201cworrying\u201d information online. Their computer and other devices were confiscated before being referred to the Judiciary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, on<\/span> 29 January<\/span><\/a>, Mahmoud Alifar, the Police Chief of Gonbad-e-Kavus in Golestan Province reported the arrest of an individual for posting \u201cmodeling photos\u201d on Instagram.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>31 January<\/span><\/a> Hossein Ghasghaei was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the 28th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran for \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader\u201d and \u201cspreading propaganda against the state\u201d. In the previous year Ghashghaei received a suspended one year prison sentence and a fine of 40,000,000 IRR for spreading \u201cpropaganda against the state\u201d, \u201cspreading false information'' and \u201cdisrupting public opinion and insulting officials and agents\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to HRANA Ghasghaei was arrested by intelligence forces on 20 November 2018 on the basis of his online activities, and was released on bail ten days later. He was arrested again on 22 January 2020 by intelligence officers in the city of Saveh.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

February 2021<\/span><\/h2>\n

Colonel Yousef Shakeri, FATA Chief in North Khorasan Province, reported that on <\/span>2 February<\/span><\/a> a man and a woman were arrested for \u201cdisrupting public peace\u201d and posting \u201cfalse information\u201d on an Instagram news page.<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>6 February<\/span><\/a> Colonel Ali Mohammadpour, the FATA Chief in South Khorasan Province, announced the arrest of a \u201cyoung man\u201d who advertised \u201cmassage [services] for women\u201d on Instagram with \u201cimmoral aims\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>11 February<\/span><\/a> the Iranian writer and poet and member of the Iranian Writers Organisation, Alireza Nouri was arrested at his home by FATA in the city of Hamedan, and subsequently imprisoned. In June 2017 Nouri was sentenced to two years in prison for \u201cblasphemy by writing insulting poems online\u201d. Following an unsuccessful appeal he was due to start serving his sentence on 22 June 2020, which was stayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Baloch Activists Campaign (BAC) reported that on <\/span>15 February<\/span><\/a>, security forces arrested Abdulghafour Ghaderi from the city of Chabahar in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. An \u201cinformed source\u201d revealed to the CAB that Ghaderi was an online activist, who had been identified after his Instagram account was reported to security authorities. The source reports that Ghaderi has been subjected to \u201cphysicial and mental torture\u201d following his arrest. He has been accused of \u201cspreading propaganda against the state, the disruption of public order, and supporting Baloch political groups\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to HRANA, on <\/span>17 February<\/span><\/a> a number of people were arrested in Pardis County in Tehran for \u201cposting immoral photos\u201d on Instagram.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>24 February<\/span><\/a> Colonel Ebrahim Parsa, FATA Chief in Golestan Province, reported that an individual had been arrested for promoting \u201canti-social and illegal\u201d behaviour on social media, adding that their \u201cequipment\u201d had been confiscated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also on 24 February, FATA in the city of Ardabil reported that over the past 11 months, 73 people had been <\/span>arrested<\/span><\/a> for running gambling and betting sites, with an estimated total turnover of 74 billion IRR.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

March 2021<\/span><\/h2>\n

On <\/span>2 March<\/span><\/a>, FATA in Gilan Province arrested an individual for posting \u201cvulgar and immoral\u201d photos on Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>3 March<\/span><\/a>, an individual was arrested by FATA in North Khorasan Province for \u201cdisrupting public opinion\u201d and \u201cinviting people to disrupt public order\u201d online in relation to \u201cunauthorised mineral extractions\u201d from the province\u2019s Albagh Mine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>4 March<\/span><\/a> an individual was arrested for publishing an \u201cunauthorised video\u201d from the morgue at Behesht Masoumeh cemetery in the city of Qom. The video allegedly shows the bodies of COVID-19 victims, in order to highlight the \"severity of the pandemic in the country\", and to suggest that the scale of the health crisis is \"beyond the level admitted by government authorities.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>9 March<\/span><\/a> the Instagram influencer Milad Hatam Abadi Farahani (otherwise known as Milad Hatami) was arrested by Turkish police and handed over to Iranian authorities at the Iranian -Turkish border. According to Hadi Shirzad, the Head of International Police in Iran, an Interpol red notice was issued for Hatami\u2019s arrest for charges relating to \u201ccybercrime, fraud and money laundering\u201d. Prior to his arrest Hatami lived in Istanbul with his wife and daughter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>10 March<\/span><\/a> authorities arrested the creators of a \"comedy music video\" posted on Instagram. According to the FATA Police Chief in Yazd Province, the creators attempted to recreate a foreign music video \"with a Yazdi accent\", which was described as \u201cimmoral and anti-social\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>11 March<\/span><\/a>, Iran\u2019s Judiciary announced that a number of people involved in the production of an Iranian exile\u2019s music video had been arrested. The US based Iranian singer, Sasan Yafteh (also known as Sasy), released a music video for his song \u201cIran, Tokyo\u201d in March 2021, featuring a cameo from the adult film star Alexis Texas. The Judiciary announced that several people involved in its production had been arrested, and said that \"those sharing the video on the app Dubsmash would be prosecuted.\" The Judiciary added that Iran would use \u201cinternational resources\u201d to prosecute the singer in the event that the video is released publicly. The video was subsequently released, although the Judiciary has taken no public action against the singer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>14 March<\/span><\/a> FATA in Markazi Province reported that 13 people had been arrested over the previous three months for \u201cpromoting gambling and betting websites\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>15 March<\/span><\/a> the FATA Police Chief in Sistan and Baluchestan Province reported the arrest of an individual in the city of Mirjave for \u201cblasphemy\u201d and \u201cdisrupting public order\u201d on Instagram.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FATA in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province reported that an individual \u201cpromoting gambling and betting websites on Instagram\u201d had been identified and arrested on <\/span>17 March<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also on <\/span>17 March<\/span><\/a>, FATA <\/span>repo<\/span><\/a>r<\/span>ted<\/span><\/a> that an individual had been arrested for running an Instagram page \u201cwith the aim of destroying and disrupting public opinion\u201d against university authorities in the province.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>22 March<\/span><\/a> FATA in Mazandaran Province announced that \u201cthe largest gambling gang in the country\u201d had been destroyed following the arrest of a number of individuals. According to the province\u2019s FATA Police Chief Colonel Sameh Khorshad, FATA found \u201c470 bank cards which were rented or fraudulently acquired by the accused for financial transactions\u201d. The group\u2019s turnover from fraud was claimed to be \u201c20,000 billion IRR\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span>31 March<\/span><\/a> the FATA Police Chief in Tehran reported the arrest of an Instagram user with \u201cmore than one million followers\u201d who \u201cadvertised gambling and betting sites\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the first three months of 2021, we observed further tightening of restrictions in Iran\u2019s online public space as the country\u2019s Cyber Police (FATA), Judiciary and Intelligence services, intensified their efforts to monitor Iranians\u2019 online activities, and take action against individuals.\u00a0 A number of significant events concerning Iran\u2019s internet took place during the first fewContinue reading \"FATAwatch: January \u2013 March 2021\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3020,"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":[113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber-threat-reports","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