Internet Restrictions In Iran

Just a few days after Iran's protests began, social media platforms were censored and internet access was restricted. The Iranian government started working toward the creation of the National Internet using the turmoil as a justification.

Internet usage restrictions were put in place during the first week of demonstrations against the mysterious murder of Mahsa Amini outside the Hijab police headquarters and are still in effect today. However, access to the worldwide internet has been more disrupted lately than ever before. All of the VPNs are gradually becoming unusable, access to messengers and social media is getting harder to get, and a wave of censorship is sweeping foreign websites.

Total Filtering Of Cyberspace

On December 4, a news story stating Ahmad Vahidi, the interior minister of the 13th government, citing a "total filtering of cyberspace" was published in the media; however, it was later refuted. The former leader of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, Mohsen Taeb, said on December 18 that "[t]here will come a day on the platforms where we will select whose photo will be published and who won't." The Ebrahim Raisi administration's Ministry of Communications has issued conflicting statements on this subject during the past three months.

The Research Deputy of the Tax Affairs Organization of Iran's data analysis 

The country's businesses have sustained daily losses of at least 500 million Rials and up to 5000 million Rials since the start of the government's disruption of the internet. Above 41% of businesses have seen a loss of 25–50% in revenue during this time, and 47% have seen a drop in sales of over 50%. The Research Deputy of the Tax Affairs Organization of Iran's data analysis reveals that the internet outage has cost 30000 billion Rials in damages daily. Accordingly, 3 months of internet outage in Iran would cost the nation the equivalent of 43% of its annual oil earnings, or $25 billion.

IODA Internet Observatory 

The IODA Internet Observatory reports that over the past few days, there has been significant disruption to the internet in the provinces of Kurdistan, Alborz, Tehran, Semnan, Lorestan, and Bushehr. Since around 10:00 p.m. on December 6, mobile and home internet in Kurdistan province have been severely disrupted, and this disruption is still present as of the time of writing this report. Kurdistan province's unique IP internet access has occasionally come dangerously close to ceasing to exist.

Iran's internet restrictions

Iran's internet restrictions extend beyond these demonstrations. During the 2009 presidential election demonstrations, Facebook and Twitter were also blocked in Iran. Additionally, Telegram was filtered throughout the 2019 protests. However, despite the widespread use of VPNs, the popularity of these applications has not been reduced. The Iranian government has long viewed these networks as a threat and is looking for a chance to filter them.

Since July of this year, two months before the protests started, Iranian internet users' search results have been censored and limited by Google web search engines since they are classified as underage users. 85 million Iranians are now regarded as children after a protracted period of network disruption and a drop in internet quality.

Safe Search

In other words, Google will only return filtered and constrained results for Iranian internet users. This is because SafeSearch is a permanent and non-cancelable feature on the network of these operators.

Follow-ups reveal that the Ministry of Communications, not the operators, implemented this solution. After the recent unrest, the limitations have begun a new chapter in the protection of 85 million Iranians.

People under the age of 18 as well as schools and institutions typically use Safe Search in other nations. Even the methodology of scientific and research searches is impacted by this. When browsing for research materials, a person might not have accurate information provided to him and might see results that are not very helpful.

Violation of civil rights

This measure violates civil rights because residents have a right to use the internet, information, and communication, as stated in the charter of citizens' rights that was created and released by the previous administration.

Free access to communication and information is a citizen's right, following the tenets of international agreements. However, when such limitations are allowed for everyone, searchers can only access inaccurate or subpar information. From a global perspective, this is regarded as a human rights violation and may have repercussions.

For instance, on a global legal level, the license agreements of major search engines provide that only users under the age of 18 or students should use the safe search option. The license has been broken, by this clause and the extension of this power to the entire Iranian populace. The platform's owner has the right to sue anyone who violates this license in a foreign court. The Ministry of Communications, for instance, could be sued in the Human Rights Court in Europe.

Sanctions against Iran are likely a result of these limitations. The platforms have the authority to mandate the entire deactivation of Safe Search for Iran if they can demonstrate that the feature has been misused and information flow has been hindered in Iran. In actuality, abuse has rendered a service that could have been utilized absolutely out of reach for all families.

By taking such a step, the nation's cyber governance has been jeopardized. The international tribunal may probably issue a ruling that has the biggest negative effects on Iran's cyber-governance. Additionally, the infrastructure communication business may face financial penalties.